WHO hopeful of Ebola vaccine by 2015

The World Health Organization (WHO) says an Ebola vaccine could be ready in large quantities by the end of the year to help contain the outbreak of the deadly virus in West Africa.

The UN health agency said on Wednesday that quantities of vaccines could be large enough to have some impact in controlling Ebola in the region.

The announcement follows a study by the UN health organization, saying that 70 percent of those infected in West Africa have died.

Reports say Ebola has sickened more than 5,800 people in five West African countries.

In a report published on Tuesday, a prominent American health organization predicted that up to 1.4 million people could be infected by the Ebola virus by January if preventive measures do not prove effective soon.

In its journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that under the worst-case scenario, if “interventions don’t start working soon, as many as 1.4 million people could be infected by January 20.”

The development came shortly after another report on the worsening epidemic in Africa by the WHO estimated that Ebola cases in the worst-hit African countries will extend to more than 20,000 by early November.

Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can be also spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses.

DB/AS/MHB