First Marburg Virus Vaccine Development Funded By HHS' BRADA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority Funds.

HHS’ BARDA Funds Its First Marburg Virus Vaccine Development

Vaccine Could Address an Important Biodefense and Public Health Threat

To increase national health security against biothreats and protect public health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will partner with Public Health Vaccines LLC of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to develop a potential vaccine against Marburg virus. No licensed vaccine for this virus exists today.

The Marburg virus is part of the family of hemorrhagic fever viruses that includes Ebola. The virus causes a similar illness to that of Ebola, and occurs most often in Africa. The Marburg virus was recognized in 1967 and since then multiple outbreaks have occurred with high mortality rates, most recently  in 2017. In addition to the threat of naturally occurring infection, the Marburg virus, like Ebola, is deemed a potential bioterrorism threat by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, awarded an initial two-year, $10 million contract to Public Health Vaccines LLC to begin development of a vaccine to protect against Marburg infection.

“This vaccine candidate is the first BARDA has funded against the Marburg virus, and it is an important step toward meeting an urgent public health and biodefense need,” said BARDA Director Rick Bright, Ph.D. “We will leverage our experience in establishing public-private partnerships that bring results that are critical to saving lives and protecting Americans – and possibly people across the globe – from health security threats."

The Public Health Agency of Canada initially developed the vaccine and licensed it to Public Health Vaccines LLC. This approach is similar to the one Merck & Co. used to develop its Ebola vaccine. Under the agreement with BARDA, Public Health Vaccines LLC will conduct preclinical development to demonstrate the proof of concept that the vaccine can protect against Marburg virus.

If that initial development succeeds, BARDA has the option to provide additional funding for a total of up to $72 million to advance the Marburg virus vaccine through a Phase 2 clinical trial, and begin development of a vaccine candidate against the Sudan ebolavirus, a closely related virus, as well.

CDC Rapid Ebola Preparedness (REP) teams have assessed more than 50 facilities in 15 states and D.C.

The Hospitals Equipped With Ebola Treatment Centers In USA As Of 12/2/2014

This list will be updated weekly. The 35 hospitals with Ebola treatment centers listed alphabetically state-wise as of 12/2/2014 are :

• Kaiser Oakland Medical Center; Oakland, California
• Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center; Sacramento, California
• University of California Davis Medical Center; Sacramento, California
• University of California San Francisco Medical Center; San Francisco, California
• Emory University Hospital; Atlanta, Georgia
• Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago; Chicago, Illinois
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Chicago, Illinois
• Rush University Medical Center; Chicago, Illinois
• University of Chicago Medical Center; Chicago, Illinois
• Johns Hopkins Hospital; Baltimore, Maryland
• University of Maryland Medical Center; Baltimore, Maryland
• National Institutes of Health Clinical Center; Bethesda, Maryland
• Allina Health’s Unity Hospital; Fridley, Minnesota
• Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota - Saint Paul campus; St. Paul, Minnesota
• Mayo Clinic Hospital - Rochester, Saint Marys Campus; Rochester, Minnesota
• University of Minnesota Medical Center, West Bank campus, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Nebraska Medicine - Nebraska Medical Center; Omaha, Nebraska
• North Shore System LIJ/Glen Cove Hospital; Glen Cove, New York
• Montefiore Health System; New York City, New York
• New York-Presbyterian/Allen Hospital; New York City, New York
• NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation/HHC Bellevue Hospital Center; New York City, New York
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; New Brunswick, New Jersey
• The Mount Sinai Hospital; New York City, New York
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; Galveston, Texas
• Methodist Hospital System in collaboration with Parkland Hospital System and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Richardson, Texas
• University of Virginia Medical Center; Charlottesville, Virginia
• Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center; Richmond, Virginia
• Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin – Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• UW Health – University of Wisconsin Hospital, Madison, and the American Family Children’s Hospital, Madison; Madison, Wisconsin
• MedStar Washington Hospital Center; Washington, D.C.
• Children's National Medical Center; Washington, D.C.
• George Washington University Hospital; Washington, D.C.

India Has It's First Case Of Ebola

An Indian national who contacted and was cured of Ebola, has tested positive for the virus. He was in Liberia when he got infected. This makes the India's first known case of Ebola.

The patient was supposedly treated in Liberia and cured but was quarantined as a precaution when he arrived in New Delhi on Nov. 10. He has not displayed symptoms of Ebola, but his semen showed traces of the virus,  said in a statement Tuesday.

"It is a known fact that, during convalescence from Ebola Virus Disease, persons continue to shed virus in bodily fluids for variable periods, However, presence of virus in his semen samples may have the possibility of transmitting the disease through sexual route up to 90 days from time of clinical cure.India's health ministry has said.
Peter Piot, a former WHO official who was one of the discoverers of the virus, has in the past expressed concerns about the disease spreading to India. There are nearly 45,000 Indian nationals living in West Africa. Densely populated India is not adequately prepared to handle any spread of the highly infectious hemorrhagic fever among its 1.2 billion people.
Times of India

Mali Added To EBOLA List, CDC Travel Advisory

Mali Added To EBOLA List, CDC Travel Advisory
 
The purpose of this alert is to notify travelers that a few Ebola cases have been reported in Bamako, Mali, and to inform them of actions they can take to reduce their risk of getting the disease.
CDC recommends that travelers to Mali protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are sick, because of the possibility they may be sick with Ebola. Although a cluster of cases has been reported only in Bamako, travelers to all parts of Mali should be alert for reports of possible further spread within the country.

As of November 12, 2014, the World Health Organization reported a cluster of Ebola cases in Bamako, Mali (see box for case counts). (An unrelated death from Ebola occurred in Kayes, Mali on October 24, 2014 and no additional cases related to that person have been reported.) The cluster in Bamako is linked to a man who had been in a clinic in Bamako after becoming sick in Guinea. Since that time, a small number of Ebola cases linked to this patient have been reported in Bamako. The Malian government has taken actions to contain further spread. CDC recommends that travelers to Mali protect themselves by avoiding contact with the blood and body fluids of people who are sick and following the other recommendations listed below.
The cases of Ebola in Bamako, Mali, are related to an ongoing Ebola outbreak that has been occurring since March 2014 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and is the largest outbreak of Ebola in history.