Researchers at the Hamburg University Clinic (UKE) have begun the first tests on humans in Germany of an Ebola vaccine. The vaccine delivered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is initially to be tested on 30 volunteers over the next six months, the clinic said Monday, noting that tests on animals had been successful, dpa reported.
The doctors were also quick to assure that there was no danger that any of the test patients would become infected by the Ebola virus.
If all the testing phases in Hamburg go successfully, then it is hoped that the vaccine can start to be employed by the fall of 2015, a UKE spokeswoman said. And, if the current epidemic in West Africa can by then be reined in, the vaccine could possibly prove to be of help in any future breakouts.