WASHINGTON: US scientists have successfully conducted the first human trial of an experimental Ebola vaccine, the White House announced on Thursday.

The trial has “shown initial promise to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus infection,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

The vaccine was developed at the National Institutes of Health near Washington by a team of scientists led by Dr Francis Collins and Dr Anthony Fauci.

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The institute announced that all 20 healthy adults who received the vaccine in a trial run produced an immune response and developed anti-Ebola antibodies.

Two people developed a brief fever during the trial but none suffered serious side-effects.

Within NIH, the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline worked jointly to produce the vaccine.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has claimed more than 5,000 lives, persuaded the team to fast-track the process.

“Based on these positive results from the first human trial of this candidate vaccine, we are continuing our accelerated plan for larger trials to determine if the vaccine is efficacious in preventing Ebola infection,” said Dr. Fauci.

The volunteers aged 18 to 50 and were split into two groups. Half received an intramuscular injection of vaccine at a lower dose and 10 received the same vaccine at a higher dose. Both tests produced promising results.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2014