Emergency Treatment for Exposure to Ebola Virus The Need to Fast-Track Promising Vaccines

Ebola virus is among the most deadly pathogens, with case fatality rates of up to 90%.1 Ebola virus is categorized as a tier 1 pathogen by the US government because of its potential for deliberate misuse with sig-nificant potential for mass casualties. The current out-break of Ebola virus in West Africawithmore than23 000casesand9000deaths2alsodem-onstrates the long-underestimated public health threat that Ebola virus poses as a natural human pathogen. There are no licensed vaccines or postexposure treatments for combating Ebola virus. However, substantial progress has beenmade in developing vaccines and antivirals that can protect labora-tory animals against lethal disease.1,3 Advancing these inter-ventions for human use is a matter of utmost urgency