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KENT COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTPromising Findingsin the Fight Against EbolaMark Hall, MD, MPHAs of August 9, 2015, 27,929 reported confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EBV) have been reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including 11,283 deaths.To date, outbreak control measures have consisted of safe and prompt burial of the dead, identifying those who may have been in contact with someone infected and monitoring their health for 21 days, separating the healthy from the sick and practicing good hygiene and maintenance of a clean environment. For healthcare providers on the front lines tending to the ill, extreme caution must be observed while donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure protection against exposure to the bodily fluids of aninjection, and produces a rapid immune response against the Ebola virus surface protein. This article summarizes the promising findings of the authors.MethodsThis open-label,vaccination trial was conducted with cases of EBV in Basse-Guinée, Guinea. Upon laboratory confirmation of a case (detection of Ebola RNA by reverse transcriptase PCR), clusters of allinfected individual.Having an effective vaccine against EBV could reduce morbidity and mortality and potentially end the devastating Ebola epidemic that has severely affected the health care systems and populations in West Africa.primary and secondary contacts were randomly allocated 1:1 to immediate vaccination or delayed (21 days later) vaccination with rVSV-ZEBOV, administered intramuscularly in the deltoid. Primary contacts were defined as those living in the same household, were visited by the infected individual after the onset of symptoms or were in close physical contact with the patient’s body or body fluids, linen or clothes. A secondary contact was defined as neighbors, family or extended family living within the nearest geographical boundary of all contact, plus household members ofHaving an effective vaccine againstEBV could reduce morbidity andmortality and potentially end the devastating Ebola epidemic that hasseverely affected the health caresystems and populations in WestAfrica. Recently, Henao-Restrepoet. al. (Lancet online, July 31, 2015)reported preliminary findings ofa phase 3 clinical trial assessingthe effectiveness of recombinant, replication-component vesicularstomatitis virus-based candidatevaccine expressing the glycoprotein of a Zaire Ebolavirus (rVSV-ZEBOV). This vaccine causes a transient systemic infection after a singleany high-risk contacts. The primary outcome was laboratory-confirmed EBV with onset of symptoms at least 10 days after randomization.CONTINUED ON PAGE 22cluster-randomized ringFEATSUMMER 2015 KCMS/KCOA BULLETIN 21UKCHDKCHD