Oxford will begin vaccine testing against Ebola

Experts from the English University of Oxford will begin this Wednesday clinical trials of a vaccine against the Ebola virus.

According to the Jenner Institute at Oxford, in charge of this experiment, the first volunteers will receive today a dose containing a small part of the genetic material of the virus, which ensures that these people will not develop the virus.

Although doctors need several years of clinical trials before the vaccines be commercialized, they have been forced to speed up the experiment so that it can be available as soon as possible due to the severity of the outbreak of Ebola in Africa.

If the tests are successful in Oxford, it is expected that the vaccine be used to immunize health care workers who are in the most affected areas by the disease.

The Ebola virus has killed more than half of the approximately 3,000 affected in West Africa.