Experimental Vaccine May Help Stop Spread of Ebola

 

Health workers say an experimental vaccine¹ may help to stop the spread of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The vaccine is called V920. The drug maker² Merck has shipped about 8,600 doses of V920 to the northeastern DRC.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Tuesday that the virus has infected over 50 people in the area. It said the Ebola outbreak is responsible for at least 27 deaths.

Experts have warned this outbreak could be as deadly as the one that hit West Africa several years ago.

WHO officials said 33 people were vaccinated³ against Ebola on Monday in the city of Mbandaka. Most were health workers. Mbandaka is home to more than one million people.

The V920 vaccine has gone through extensive testing, but is still considered experimental.

Benjamin Djoudalbaye is the head of policy and health diplomacy⁴ at the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He told VOA that an effective vaccine is not enough to defeat Ebola.

The V920 vaccine is not designed for a mass vaccination⁵. Instead, individuals who have come in contact with a patient must be identified and given the drug.

Djoudalbaye said, “The difficult part is to properly list down all the contacts and press them in such a way that they (understand they) can benefit from the vaccine and it will stop the spread of the disease.”

WHO workers will follow what is being called the “ring vaccination” method: anyone who has or may come into contact with an infected person is vaccinated to contain the threat. This could include family members, funeral workers and health care workers.

So far, V920 has prevented all those vaccinated from getting infected with the virus. In a test done in 2015, none of the 5,837 people who received the vaccine became sick.

A Merck spokesperson said in an email that the company plans to ask for a license⁶ on the vaccine in 2019. But it has made V920 available now because of the outbreak in the DRC.

The WHO has requested an additional 8,000 doses. Merck said it is working to act on that request.

On May 18, the East African Community group warned its members that the virus could spread for two reasons: direct flights between East African countries and extensive trade relations.

The WHO, however, has not declared a state of emergency. Travel to and from DRC has not been restricted.

Djoudalbaye says health officials, non-governmental organizations governments learned a lot from the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014 and 2015. One thing they learned was the importance of health services to support a fast reaction to an outbreak.

Part of that effort is the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which opened in early 2017.

Djoudalbaye said existing systems and resources have enabled a speedy response in the DRC. He added, "After the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo on the eighth (of May), by the tenth, we were on the ground."

V920 is not new. Scientists at the Public Health Agency, in Winnipeg, Canada, invented the vaccine in 2003. The first tests showed promise. Just one shot of the vaccine prevented animals -- macaque monkeys -- exposed to high levels of Ebola from getting sick.

But the drug was never fully⁷ developed. Long and costly⁸ tests were not done until the worst Ebola outbreak in recorded history happened in 2014 and 2015. By then, the vaccine had been licensed⁹ to Merck and its effectiveness in humans had been established.

More than 11,000 people died in the West Africa outbreak. The majority were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Tests of V920 in the outbreak area helped stop the epidemic¹⁰.

Experts say keeping the virus contained and the number of deaths as low as possible will require ongoing¹¹ financial support.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

epidemic – n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people

resource – n. a supply of something that can be used when it is needed

extensive – adj. large in size or amount; very full or complete

benefit – n. something that produces good or helpful results

license – n. official permission for something

properly – adj. exactly correctly; demonstrating good behavior

outbreak – n. a sudden start or increase of fighting or disease

dose – n. the measured amount of a drug, to be taken at any one time

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

3 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

6 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。