|
 The vaccine was used by the World Health Organization and Democratic
Republic of the Congo as an investigational vaccine to help reduce
Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks in few West African countries
from 2014 to 2016.
The Ebola virus, which causes haemorrhagic fever and spreads from
person to person through direct contact with body fluids, has killed
more than 2,100 people in Congo since the middle of the year, making
it the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history.
The vaccine, which is administered as a single-dose injection, will
help to prevent EVD caused by Zaire ebolavirus in patients aged 18
years and older, the regulator said in a statement.
[to top of second column] |
Merck welcomed the FDA's decision, describing it as an important
milestone in the fight against the deadly virus.
In November, Merck received approval from the European Commission to
market Ervebo, less than a month after a European medicines panel
backed the first-ever vaccine against the virus.
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru, Additional Reporting by
Rishika Chatterjee; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
