An Australian virus has been used in developing an experimental Ebola vaccine. A new international study led by the University of Queensland has found that the engineered vaccine provides significant protection from Ebola.

According to the study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the study is one of the latest attempts to find an effective vaccine against Ebola. Lead researcher Professor Alexander Khromykh said scientists from Australia, France and Russia have been working on the vaccine.

The professor explained that African green monkeys were immunised with the vaccine made from the Kunjin virus. Khromykh said that the virus was engineered to produce a protein from Ebola virus. The monkeys were vaccinated twice in an interval of four weeks before administering a dose of Ebola virus about three weeks later.

Researchers had discovered that about 75 percent or 3 out of 4 monkeys were completely protected from the Ebola virus after they were immunised. Khromykh said further tests with a bigger number of monkeys will be conducted before moving on to the first phase of clinical trials in human volunteers.

Professor Andreas Suhrbier from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said there were only a few Ebola vaccine candidates that worked on monkeys. He remarked that the results of the new study are considered an “achievement” in the battle against Ebola.

Meanwhile, the Ebola outbreak has left more than 12,000 children orphaned in Sierra Leone. The Guardian reports that the orphans were first identified in the first national survey of orphans, which was conducted by British charity Street Child. The report said the future of the children has remained bleak. Many have lived in fear without the security and support of the parents. The charity has found that some children, who were rejected because of the stigma of Ebola, have tried to commit suicide while young girls were forced to enter into prostitution to earn money for food.

Save the Children has warned that the next Ebola epidemic could come from countries with weaker healthcare systems than Sierra Leone. Countries like Somalia, Chad, Haiti, Afghanistan, Niger, Ethiopia were identified as possible sites.

The group said 28 countries have next to non-existent health care, reports NBC. Public health experts have agreed that poor health systems have helped Ebola turn into an epidemic. The virus has infected nearly 24,000 people and killed about 10,000.

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