Canadian scientists discover cure for Ebola

Cure for Ebola found - Canadian researchers  have reported discovering an advance in the treatment of Ebola virus infection, one of the most deadly pathogens known to humankind.
Canada is reported to have sent out out 800 vials of an experimental drug set to be tested on infected Ebola patients in hopes of ending the Ebola outbreak. The cure for Ebola is an experimental drug named VSV-EBOV. All 800 vials had been tested on primates and showed positive results.

The cure for Ebola, found in Winnipeg Canada at the National Microbiology Laboratory named VSV-EBOV, will be shipped out to the World Health Organization to use as they see fit.

"This vaccine, the product of many years of scientific research and innovation, could be an important tool in curbing the outbreak. We will continue to work closely with the WHO to address some of the ethical and logistical issues around using this experimental vaccine in the fight against Ebola," stated Canada's chief public health officer, Gregory Taylor.

 VSV-EBOV was made by combining weak version of vesicular stomatitis virus and the protein of the Ebola virus. Such vaccine then triggers a response by the immune system. Antibodies will be produced to fight Ebola. This vaccine works the same way a flu shot would. There currently is no vaccine and no treatment for Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever that causes sporadic, tragic outbreaks in countries in central Africa.

“Our researchers have seen first hand the terrible effects of the Ebola virus on populations in Africa,” Dr. Frank Plummer, scientific director of the Winnipeg lab and chief science officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada, said in a news release.

“This discovery should pave the way for the development of a new drug that has the potential to save many lives.”

Plummer’s enthusiasm was echoed by Dr. Pierre Formenty, team leader for epidemic and emerging diseases at the World Health Organization.

“It’s excellent science,” Formenty said in an interview from Geneva. “And it’s very hopeful for us.”

Formenty says this work makes him more optimistic than he’s felt in years that a usable tool against Ebola may be in sight.

The work involved working with Ebola Zaire, the deadliest species of Ebola viruses. In outbreaks triggered by the Zaire strain of Ebola, as many as 90 per cent of people infected can die.

Hopes and prayers are sent with the shipment of vaccine. Hopefully another deadly disease will bite the dust.