Russian scientists prepare to test Ebola vaccine on primates, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said Monday, RIA Novosti reported.
She said that Russia is trying to get enough test material “to repeat tests on primates and start clinical tests.”
“This work will take several more months,” the minister added.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said, in her turn, that Russian scientists were “about to finish work on developing the vaccine.”
Earlier in October, Skvortsova stated that the Russian scientists were planning to introduce vaccines to fight Ebola within the next six months and that Russia had also begun the work on creation of special drugs for the prevention and treatment of the deadly virus.
The Ebola epidemic currently taking place in West Africa broke out in southern Guinea in February, and later spread across the entire region, with cases also having been reported in Spain and the United States. According to the latest figures by the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of Ebola victims has reached 4,033. (