NIH to launch early Ebola vaccine trial in September

The USA will launch an early-stage trial in September of an experimental vaccine against Ebola, the deadly viral disease that has killed 729 people in the largest outbreak in history.

The National Institutes of Health has been developing an Ebola vaccine for several years that has had "encouraging results" in primates, says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci said he's working with the Food and Drug Administration to fast track the vaccine into a phase 1 clinical trial this fall. This type of trial is the earliest study in humans and aims to make sure that drugs are safe and show some efficacy, USA Today reports.

Results from the study should be available by January, Fauci said.

Ebola, which has a fatality rate of up to 90%, has infected more than 1,300 people in West Africa, including a number of health workers, according to the World Health Organization.

There are currently no effective treatments or vaccines for Ebola, which causes fever and headache in early stages but can lead to hemorrhaging, liver failure and kidney failure in later stages.

The only positive development to come from the epidemic is that it's attracted long-needed attention from drug makers, Fauci said.

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