Survivor antibody clears path for new Ebola vaccine

An antibody taken from an Ebola survivor has been found to target all three human strains of the virus and could eventually lead to an all-purpose vaccine against the killer disease, scientists said Monday. Ebola, which can be lethal in 90 percent of cases if untreated, killed more than 11,000 people in 2014-15 in West Africa in what was the worst-ever outbreak of the haemorrhagic disease. The epidemic caused international panic. A vaccine was developed that offers some protection against one strain of the virus. Tens of thousands of people have received the vaccine in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after an outbreak there—which started in August—killed more than 500 people. Now scientists for the first time believe they have identified an antibody from a survivor of the West Africa epidemic that can be used to target all three forms of Ebola in humans. Kartik Chandran, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine, said he and his colleagues had identified Ebola's "Achilles heel". "Given the unpredictable nature of Ebola outbreaks, vaccines and drugs that can be used to prevent and treat infections caused by multiple ebolaviruses are urgently needed," he told AFP.