A zoonotic pathogen (capable of animal-to-human transmission), the Ebola virus results in serious hemorrhagic fever in humans. Primary symptoms of Ebola virus are fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, and unexplained bruising. The first human viral vaccine against Ebola is Ervebo. Also known as V920 or rVSV-ZEBOV, Ervebo was approved by the European Union in November 2019 via conditional marketing authorization. Conditional marketing authorization is reserved for highly sought-after drugs that must be fast-tracked to facilitate commercial availability to address critical unmet medical needs.
Ervebo is designed to fight the most lethal strain of ebola virus, Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), and is especially effective when deployed with a ring vaccination strategy. According to data from the CDC, EBOV causes death in 70 to 90 percent of cases where the disease is left untreated. In December, 2019 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ervebo for vaccination of people 18 years and older. Ervebo does not provide protection against EBOV counterparts (other species of Ebolavirus and Marburgvirus species). While Ervebo is not yet commercially marketed in the United States, frontline health workers such as Ebola virus disease responders, biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory workers and support staff, and healthcare personnel at federally approved Ebola Treatment Centers are eligible for Ervebo vaccination if there is exposure to the virus.