02:28
The
vaccine, Ervebo, was developed by Merck and protects against Ebola
virus disease (EVD) caused by Zaire ebolavirus in people 18 and older,
the FDA said in a statement.
Cases
of EVD in the US are very rare and have generally occurred when people
already infected with the virus have traveled into the country or when
health care workers have become infected treating those sickened by EVD.
"While
the risk of Ebola virus disease in the U.S. remains low, the U.S.
government remains deeply committed to fighting devastating Ebola
outbreaks in Africa, including the current outbreak in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo," Anna Abram, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy,
Legislation, and International Affairs, said in a press release.
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, called the new vaccine "a triumph of American global health leadership."
The
Zaire strain of the Ebola virus has caused more than 2,000 deaths in
the current outbreak in the eastern DRC, and more than 11,000 deaths
during an outbreak in 2014 in West Africa.
Ebola
virus is highly contagious and transmitted through direct contact with
blood, body fluids and the tissue of infected wild animals or people.
It's also transmitted through surfaces and materials that have come into
contact with an infected person or animal.
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