Scientists are focusing their efforts on two approaches:
treatments to help people already infected with the virus
vaccines to protect people from catching it in the first place
There are lots of different experimental vaccines and drug treatments for Ebola under development, but they've not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness.
Experimental drugs such as ZMapp have already been given to patients in the current outbreak, but they have not saved all patients. Two US aid workers and a Briton recovered after taking it, but a Liberian doctor and a Spanish priest died.
The medicine has only previously been tested on animals, and experts say it is still unclear whether the drug boosts chances of recovery.
Stocks have been extremely limited, and the manufacturers of the drug say it will take months to increase production.
Blood transfusions from survivors are also being tried as a potential therapy. It's thought that this serum may contain particles that could neutralise the virus. This buys the patient time - they would still need their own body to learn how to fight the virus for itself.
Vaccines
Ebola vaccine The trial of the vaccine started in the US this month
The US, UK and Canada are testing different kinds of vaccine in controlled clinical trials.
The aim is to have 20,000 doses that could be used in West Africa by early next year.
Normally it would take years of human trials before a completely new vaccine was approved for use.
But such is the urgency of the Ebola outbreak that experimental vaccines are being fast-tracked at an astonishing rate.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Trials in monkeys have been promising. But they get a very different type of Ebola to humans”
Dr Ben Neuman University of Reading
Russia recently announced it is also developing three vaccines, with one being ready for clinical trials within three months.
David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "There's been a lot of international attention to making sure that clinical trials of new vaccines and medicines are done.
"And my feeling is that if the resources continue those studies could possibly be begun and already provide some initial answers before Christmas."
It's hoped these vaccines will offer protection by delivering a harmless agent that will teach the body how to mount an immune response against Ebola.
If the person then came into contact with the real virus, their body should already know how to fight it.
Tests are ongoing, but there is no certainty how well they will work.
Dr Ben Neuman, an expert in virus and from the University of Reading, said: "Trials in monkeys have been promising. But they get a very different type of Ebola to humans.
"In a person it's a different kind of disease and we don't know for sure if the same treatments will work.
"Plus we need to scale up the doses. People are a big, walking test tube essentially."
Given the size of the outbreak, it's also unlikely that there will be enough vaccine or medicine to go round - at least initially.
Until these medicines to fight Ebola are ready, the focus has to be on disease control.
It was basic techniques that beat previous outbreaks. The hope is they will do the same now.
Scientists are focusing their efforts on two approaches:
treatments to help people already infected with the virus
vaccines to protect people from catching it in the first place
There are lots of different experimental vaccines and drug treatments for Ebola under development, but they've not yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness.
Experimental drugs such as ZMapp have already been given to patients in the current outbreak, but they have not saved all patients. Two US aid workers and a Briton recovered after taking it, but a Liberian doctor and a Spanish priest died.
The medicine has only previously been tested on animals, and experts say it is still unclear whether the drug boosts chances of recovery.
Stocks have been extremely limited, and the manufacturers of the drug say it will take months to increase production.
Blood transfusions from survivors are also being tried as a potential therapy. It's thought that this serum may contain particles that could neutralise the virus. This buys the patient time - they would still need their own body to learn how to fight the virus for itself.
Vaccines
Ebola vaccine The trial of the vaccine started in the US this month
The US, UK and Canada are testing different kinds of vaccine in controlled clinical trials.
The aim is to have 20,000 doses that could be used in West Africa by early next year.
Normally it would take years of human trials before a completely new vaccine was approved for use.
But such is the urgency of the Ebola outbreak that experimental vaccines are being fast-tracked at an astonishing rate.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Trials in monkeys have been promising. But they get a very different type of Ebola to humans”
Dr Ben Neuman University of Reading
Russia recently announced it is also developing three vaccines, with one being ready for clinical trials within three months.
David Heymann, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "There's been a lot of international attention to making sure that clinical trials of new vaccines and medicines are done.
"And my feeling is that if the resources continue those studies could possibly be begun and already provide some initial answers before Christmas."
It's hoped these vaccines will offer protection by delivering a harmless agent that will teach the body how to mount an immune response against Ebola.
If the person then came into contact with the real virus, their body should already know how to fight it.
Tests are ongoing, but there is no certainty how well they will work.
Dr Ben Neuman, an expert in virus and from the University of Reading, said: "Trials in monkeys have been promising. But they get a very different type of Ebola to humans.
"In a person it's a different kind of disease and we don't know for sure if the same treatments will work.
"Plus we need to scale up the doses. People are a big, walking test tube essentially."
Given the size of the outbreak, it's also unlikely that there will be enough vaccine or medicine to go round - at least initially.
Until these medicines to fight Ebola are ready, the focus has to be on disease control.
It was basic techniques that beat previous outbreaks. The hope is they will do the same now.
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