New Ebola Vaccine Will Be Tested On Humans For First Time

In this photo taken Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, health worker wearing protective clothing and equipment, out of fear for the deadly Ebola virus, sit at a desk at the Kenema Government Hospital situated in the Eastern P... In this photo taken Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, health worker wearing protective clothing and equipment, out of fear for the deadly Ebola virus, sit at a desk at the Kenema Government Hospital situated in the Eastern Province in Kenema, 300 kilometers, (186 miles) from the capital city of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Over the decades, Ebola cases have been confirmed in 10 African countries, including Congo where the disease was first reported in 1976. But until this year, Ebola had never come to West Africa. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal researchers next week will start testing humans with an experimental vaccine to prevent the deadly Ebola virus.

The National Institutes of Health announced Thursday that it is launching the safety trial on a vaccine developed by the agency’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and GlaxoSmithKline. It will test 20 healthy adult volunteers to see if the virus is safe and triggers an adequate response in their immune systems.

That testing will be at NIH’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Later in September, NIH and a British team will test that vaccine on volunteers in the United Kingdom, Gambia and Mali.

American health officials are also talking about a future trial in Nigeria.

So far Ebola has killed 1,552 people in West Africa.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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