This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Development Report.
The World Health Organization reports fifty-four people have diedof the Ebola virus in central Africa during the last two months. Thedeaths have been in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
The Ebola virus began spreadingafter victims were discovered in areas in northeastern Gabon inNovember. It is the third time Ebola has spread through Gabon sinceNineteen-Ninety-Four. Health officials believe people moving acrossthe border spread the disease from Gabon to Congo.
Ebola is highly infectious and kills up to eighty percent of itsvictims. Researchers do not know the method by which the virus firstappears in humans, but they believe it is through infected animals.The disease then spreads from person to person through blood andother body liquids.
Ebola victims treated early have the best chance of survival.Signs of Ebola include a high temperature, diarrhea, muscle painsand bleeding inside the body. In severe cases, victims experiencechest pains and death. There is no known cure for the disease, andno way yet to prevent it.
Scientists at the American National Institutes of Health areworking to develop a vaccine to prevent Ebola. Doctor Gary Nabel isleading the research effort at the N-I-H testing center in theeastern state of Maryland. He says that during the past two years,the vaccine has been tested on small animals and monkeys for safetyand effectiveness.
In the most recent study, four monkeys who had been given thevaccine were completely protected from a deadly injection of theEbola virus. The study was described in November in Nature magazine.Doctor Nabel says the tests appear to have moved scientists one stepcloser to a vaccine for humans.
The development of an effective vaccine is very important forcentral Africa. Earlier this year, an international team of medicalexperts left northeastern Gabon after receiving threats from thelocal community.
The World Health Organization says the medical experts have notyet returned because local officials are not able to guarantee theirsafety. This has made efforts to contain Ebola more difficult. TheW-H-O can not declare this latest spread of Ebola finished until twoseparate, twenty-one day periods pass without a new case of thedisease being reported.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.