Global healthcare company, Merck & Co.’s (MRK.N) got a green signal on Thursday, 19 December for an Ebola vaccine called Ervebo.
This makes it the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Ebola vaccine, reported Reuters.
Ebola is a deadly disease that mainly affects humans and non-primates and is caused by an infection with a group of viruses within the genus Ebolavirus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Ebola virus leads to haemorrhagic fever and has the probability of getting transferred from one person to another through direct contact or body fluids.
The vaccine is basically a single-dose injection which will help prevent Ebola virus in people of 18 years or above, caused by Zaire ebolavirus, according to the regulator.
During the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in several West African countries from around 2014 to 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo used the vaccine as an investigational new drug to provide cure to people affected by Ebola.
The outbreak killed more than 2,100 people in Congo during that period of time, making it the second-largest outbreak of the Ebola virus in history.
It took less than a month for the European Commission to approve Merck’s Ervebo vaccines and release them in the market from November to protect the people from the Ebola virus.
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