The NIH said that new research “has found that an experimental Ebola vaccine developed by NIH researchers protects monkeys against not only the two most lethal Ebola virus species for which it was originally designed, both recognized in 1976, but also against a newer Ebola virus species that was identified in 2007.” Nancy J. Sullivan, Ph.D., of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, led the study team. Currently, there are no specific treatments or vaccines available to control Ebola outbreaks. NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. commented, “The important work by Dr. Sullivan and her colleagues shows that it is possible to generate immunity to newly identified species of Ebola virus with a vaccine originally designed to protect against a different species,” says “This finding will guide future vaccine design and may open an avenue for developing a single vaccine that works against both known and emerging Ebola virus species.” The experimental Ebola vaccine being developed at NIAID has two components, a prime and a boost. The prime consists of a DNA vaccine containing a small piece of genetic material encoding surface proteins from Zaire ebolavirus and Sudan ebolavirus. The boost consists of a weakened cold virus that delivers the Zaire ebolavirus surface protein.

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2010/niaid-20.htm

The findings appear in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens 20 May 2010: http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000904