By Denise Grady | The New York Times
Almost a decade ago, scientists from Canada and the United States reported that they had created a vaccine that was 100 percent effective in protecting monkeys against the Ebola virus. The results were published in a respected journal, and health officials called them exciting. The researchers said tests in people might start within two years, and a product could potentially be ready for licensing by 2010 or 2011.
It never happened. The vaccine sat on a shelf. Only now is it undergoing the most basic safety tests in humans — with nearly 5,000 people dead from Ebola and an epidemic raging out of control in West Africa.
Although there are currently no drugs or vaccines approved in the United States to treat or prevent Ebola, health officials have used several experimental drugs in the recent epidemic.
Related: Craig Spencer, Doctor in New York City, Is Sick With Ebola
