Ebola outbreak: 1st human trials of Canadian vaccine start in U.S.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose says VSV-EBOV vaccine 'very promising and hopeful' in Ebola fight, risk here low

The Associated Press, Posted: Oct 13, 2014 7:05 AM ET, Last Updated: Oct 13, 2014 12:03 PM ET, Source - CBC Canada

Canadian government and health officials said Monday that Phase 1 clinical trials to test the VSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine begin Monday in Maryland, in what they're calling 'promising' news in the fight against the virus that has killed over 4,000 people, mostly in West Africa. (The Associated Press)

The first human clinical trials of a Canadian-developed Ebola vaccine, VSV-EBOV, begin in Maryland today to assess the vaccine's safety and determine the appropriate dosage to fight the virus that has killed more than 4,000 people, largely in West Africa, Health Minister Rona Ambrose announces.

"We are able to share some very promising and hopeful news in the fight against Ebola," Ambrose said from Calgary. 

She made the announcement at a joint press conference with chief public health officer Dr. Gregory Taylor, who spoke from Toronto.

Both stressed no individuals in Canada have ever been diagnosed with Ebola, and the risk of contracting the disease remains low in this country. 

The vaccine, which was developed by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, has proven safe in animals and will be tested on 20 healthy volunteers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md.

The results from the Phase 1 human trials will be completed by December, Ambrose said, although no specific date was given.

She said the vaccine has been shown to be "100 per cent effective" in preventing the spread of the Ebola virus when tested on animals.

The vaccine has successfully been tested in animals, but the Maryland trials will be the first to test it in humans. (Associated Press)

 

"If the Canadian vaccine is shown to be safe and effective [in humans], it will stop this devastating outbreak," Ambrose said.

The Canadian government owns the intellectual property rights to the vaccine but has licensed the rights to NewLink Genetics through its wholly owned subsidiary, BioProtection Systems, the public agency said.

The U.S. Defence Threat Reduction Agency, which is part of the U.S. Defence Department, is working with BioProtection Systems to further develop the product for use in humans.

Canada has supplied 20 vials of the experimental vaccine for use in the trial.

The public health agency said other Phase 1 clinical trials are being considered for Canada, Europe and Africa.

WHO calls Ebola most severe health emergency 

Ambrose and Taylor spoke the same day the World Health Organization called the Ebola outbreak "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times," and a day after a Texas health-care worker tested positive for Ebola — the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

The vaccine will be given to 20 healthy volunteers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md. (2Tango/Reuters)

The preliminary test found even though the Texas worker wore full protective gear while caring for a hospitalized patient who later died from the virus, health officials said Sunday.

Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the diagnosis shows there was a clear breach of safety protocol and all those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan are now considered potentially exposed.

"We don't know what occurred in the care of the index patient, the original patient, in Dallas, but at some point there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection," Frieden told a news conference.

The worker wore a gown, gloves, mask and shield while she cared for Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, said Dr. Daniel Varga of Texas Health Resources, which runs the hospital. Frieden said the worker has not been able to identify a specific breach of protocol that might have led to her being infected.

Curbing economic disruptions

Earlier Monday, the WHO also said economic disruptions can be curbed if people are adequately informed to prevent irrational moves to dodge infection from Ebola.

WHO director general Margaret Chan, citing World Bank figures, said 90 per cent of economic costs of any outbreak "come from irrational and disorganized efforts of the public to avoid infection."

Staffers of the global health organization "are very well aware that fear of infection has spread around the world much faster than the virus," Chan said in a statement read out to a regional health conference in Manila.

"We are seeing, right now, how this virus can disrupt economies and societies around the world," she said, but added that adequately educating the public was a "good defence strategy" and would allow governments to prevent economic disruptions.

The World Health Organization is 'very well aware that fear of infection has spread around the world much faster than the virus,' WHO director general Margaret Chan said in a statement read out to a regional health conference in Manila on Monday. (2Tango/Reuters)

 

The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 4,000 people, mostly in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, according to WHO figures published last week.

Chan did not specify those steps, but praised the Philippines for holding an anti-Ebola summit last week that was joined by government health officials and private-sector representatives, warning that the Southeast Asian country was vulnerable due to the large number of Filipinos working abroad.

While bracing for Ebola, health officials should continue to focus on major health threats, including non-communicable diseases, she said.

Philippine Health Secretary Enrique Ona said authorities will ask more than 1,700 Filipinos working in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to observe themselves for at least 21 days for Ebola symptoms in those countries first if they plan to return home.

Once home, they should observe themselves for another 21 days and then report the result of their self-screening to health authorities to be doubly sure they have not been infected, he said, adding that hospitals which would deal with any Ebola patients have already been identified in the Philippines. 

Nurse defy call for health workers' strike

In other news Monday, some nurses are turning up for work at hospitals in Liberia despite calls for a strike to demand better hazard pay amid an Ebola epidemic.

A strike could severely hamper Liberia's ability to respond to the largest ever Ebola outbreak. 

Liberia has the highest death toll of the countries affected by Ebola.

Ebola has hit health-care workers especially hard, infecting about 400, nearly half of those in Liberia. Members of the National Health Workers Association of Liberia are demanding higher monthly hazard pay.

Dr. Gobee Logan, a doctor at a government hospital, said some nurses were at work Monday.

The association boasts more than 10,000 members, though the Health Ministry says only about 1,000 of those are employed at sites receiving Ebola patients. 

A meeting to resolve their grievances on Oct. 10 ended in a deadlock with the government refusing the meet their demands, said George Williams, secretary general of the National Health Workers Association.

He, however, acknowledged that the strike would undermine the gains being made in the fight against Ebola in Liberia, but said they were confident the public would understand the reason behind their action.

"The problem is the government. The public should get angry with the government, not with us," Williams said

"The public is aware that health workers are dying because they are not protected. Nobody is supposed to die while protecting lives, we have been calling on the government to give us protective gear but they are not doing so," he said.

With files from Reuters, CBC News

Source - http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/e...art-in-u-s-1.2796859