The latest Ebola virus (EBOV) epidemic spread rapidly through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, creating a global public health crisis and accelerating the assessment of experimental therapeutics and vaccines in clinical trials. One of those vaccines is based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus expressing the EBOV glycoprotein (VSV-EBOV), a live-attenuated vector with marked preclinical efficacy. Here, we provide the preclinical proof that VSV-EBOV completely protects macaques against lethal challenge with the West African EBOV-Makona strain.

An analysis of 85 Ebola virus sequences collected in Guinea from July to November 2014 provides insight into the evolution of the Ebola virus responsible for the epidemic in West Africa; the results show sustained transmission of three co-circulating lineages, each defined by multiple mutations.

Original Source

West Africa is currently witnessing the most extensive Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreak so far recorded. Until now, there have been 27,013 reported cases and 11,134 deaths. The origin of the virus is thought to have been a zoonotic transmission from a bat to a two-year-old boy in December 2013. From this index case the virus was spread by human-to-human contact throughout Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.