World Health Organization Announces Success of Ebola Vaccine in Guinea

The World Health Organization announced this week that an Ebola vaccine has had a 100 percent success rate when tested in Guinea.

Media outlets report that the combined efforts of doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical companies led for the new vaccine to be produced and used on 4,000 people in Guinea at a quick rate of speed.

The vaccine does not contain the live Ebola virus, but rather a different, modified live virus with one Ebola gene that the body may then build up a resistance to.

The new vaccine was reportedly produced by the Public Health Agency in Canada and developed and licensed by Merck and NewLink Genetics.

 "We believe that the world is on the verge of an efficacious Ebola vaccine," Marie-Paule Kieny, the World Health Organization's assistant director general for health systems and innovation, said in a statement this week.

Norway's Foreign Minister Børge Brende added that he is "encouraged" by news that the recent vaccine has been 100 percent successful in Guinea.

"Having seen the devastating effects of Ebola on communities and even whole countries with my own eyes, I am very encouraged by today's news," Brende, whose country helped fund the vaccine, said in a statement. 

"This new vaccine, if the results hold up, may be the silver bullet against Ebola, helping to bring the current outbreak to zero and to control future outbreaks of this kind. I would like to thank all partners who have contributed to achieve this sensational result, due to an extraordinary and rapid collaborative effort," he added.