Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

[Gert van der Hoek]

Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture



By Patrick Donahue

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- A researcher at a Hamburg laboratory was punctured with a needle that may have contained traces of the deadly Ebola virus and was transferred to an isolation ward following inoculation treatment, the clinic said in a statement.

The university clinic in Hamburg-Eppendorf, which is treating the woman, ruled out any danger to the public, according to the e-mailed statement. Ebola is an animal-borne virus that causes high fever, diarrhea, vomiting and internal bleeding.

The woman, a scientist at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institut for tropical medicine, was punctured through protective clothing while in a high-security laboratory on March 12. Though she showed no signs of infection, a group of experts recommended an inoculation treatment developed in the U.S., the clinic said.

The virus strain with which the unidentified woman had been working has a mortality rate of around 90 percent. She was put into isolation after developing a fever 24 hours later, and doctors were examining whether the high temperature resulted from the treatment or from an Ebola infection.

The World Health Organization said Feb. 18 that an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo had killed 15 people.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aaS8q6ZRiOWQ&refer=germany

[Giuseppe]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

Though she showed no signs of infection, a group of experts recommended an inoculation treatment developed in the U.S., the clinic said.

Are they saying that researcher has been treated with an experimental vaccine?

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

Google translation

First human to recieve new vaccine

NEEDLE STITCH IN TROPICAL INSTITUTE

Researcher because of Ebola suspected in University Hospital treated

Spectacular laboratory accident with an Ebola virus: A scientist of the Tropical Institute in Hamburg was named after a needle stick into a clinic. Here it is in quarantine, so far shows no signs of infection - the first time it is with a genetically modified vaccine treated.

Hamburg - The Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical on the port in the Hanseatic city with some of the worst scourges of the planet to experiment: In the largest German Tropical Institute, the researchers inter alia with Marburg or Ebolaviren. The safety precautions are immense, they are the sharpest in the S4-specialist laboratories. In the experiments there is now a researcher may still extremely dangerous with the Ebola virus.


When working in the high security laboratory, the woman on Thursday by their protective gloves and three through a needle puncture injury, as the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) in question. At the UKE is the woman now in a treatment center for highly contagious diseases in quarantine since Friday. A threat to the population was excluded.

The woman was now completely symptom-free, said the deputy head of tropical medicine, Stefan Schmiedel. So far, no single study indicates a result of infection, "but we're not quite sure that they are not an Ebola disease develops." How long they stay on the isolation ward must be currently unclear, said the medical director J?rg Debatin. The incubation period - the time between infection with a pathogen and the onset of symptoms - is loud Schmiedel three o'clock-21 o'clock days, on average, in twelve days.

Vaccination sounded after a few hours

The researcher was the first time the world treated with a vaccine. It was based on a genetically modified virus, shared with the UKE. Previously the drug had not yet been tested in humans.

The virologist Stefan Becker of the University of Marburg said in an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, the vaccine had been specially arrived. The patient received a single dose injected receive. A team under the leadership of the Canadian researcher Steve Jones and Heinz Feldmann in 2007 had shown that they developed the vaccine in animals, even after an Ebola infection was effective. That hope is now in Hamburg.

The scientist had initially well tolerated, reported physician Stefan Schmiedel. After a few hours but it was to come after Vaccination - with a fever and head and body aches. Because Ebola-like symptoms, the doctors advised the patient for treatment under quarantine in a security tent. It is headed by a doctor and three nurses cared.

The Vaccination klang after few hours again. Yet it can not be excluded that very small quantities of virus in the body of the patient can give to proliferate, said the deputy director of the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute, Egbert Tannich.

The scientist wanted to work in the high security laboratory to produce antibodies to Ebola better able to diagnose. In Germany, it had never been a suspected Ebola case, said Tannich. Last it was in 2002 in Canada to such a laboratory accident came. For the first time broke the Ebola in 1976 in Sudan and in the north from the former Zaire. Almost all people who have unprotected contact with patients were infected and died. Even for apes, the virus is dangerous.

Severe internal bleeding that can rapidly lead to death

The Hamburg Health Authority has been turned on. Even the suspicion of Ebola disease is notifiable in Germany. The most deadly virus is in direct contact with body fluids transferred. The disease triggers from severe internal bleeding, usually in a short time to death. The last major outbreak mainly in the Congo and in Uganda, hundreds of people died.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,613797,00.html#ref=rss

[tropical]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

#1:
"... punctured through protective clothing while in a high-security laboratory"


Bad indeed.

Maybe it is time to consider the mandatory use of inner case robotic arms when manipulating deadly materials with needles instead of the human ones.

The technology exists.

[Giuseppe]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

EBOLA VIRUS, NEEDLE STICK INJURY - GERMANY: (HAMBURG)
************************************************** ***
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

[1]
Date: Tue 17 Mar 2009
Source: N24 online [machine translated, paraphrased and edited]
<http://www.n24.de/news/newsitem_4910557.html>


Woman with suspected Ebola infection
------------------------------------
An member of the Hamburg Tropical Institute has received a needle
stick injury and possibly has been infected with a dangerous
pathogen. The woman is being treated in Hamburg Universiy Hospital on
suspicion of Ebola virus infection. The victim worked in the Bernhard
Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, where last Thursday [12 Mar
2009] while working in the high security wing received a needle stick
injury despite wearing protective clothing. The woman has been
transferred to an isolation unit for treatment of the potentially
highly contagious disease. So far the patient has shown no signs of
illness. Risk of transmission of infection has been discounted.

In consultation with an international team of experts and the patient
herself [an experimental] vaccine was administered which has not been
used previously humans. Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact
with body fluids. The disease progresses to internal bleeding, and
onset of death is rapid. There is no cure; 50 to 90 percent of those
infected die. In the case of the type of Ebola virus responsible for
the Hamburg incident, mortality can be as high as 90 percent. In the
most recent major outbreaks in the Congo and in Uganda, hundreds of
people died.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

******
[2]
Date: Tue 17 Mar 2009
Source: abenblatt.de [machine translated, paraphrased and edited]
<http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2009/03/17/1088430.html>


A member of the Bernhard-Nocht-Instituts fur Tropenmedizin has
received a needle stick injury from a syringe suspected to contan
Ebola virus. The woman did not leave the University hospital and was
immediately transferred to an isolation unit. In consultation with an
international team of experts and the patient herself, an
[experimental] vaccine, not previously tested in humans, was administered.

The scientist employed at the Hamburg Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for
Tropical Medicine is suspected to have been infected with the highly
dangerous Ebola virus. Last Thursday [12 Mar 2009] the woman was
working in the high security laboratory and received a needle stick
injury despite wearing protective clothing, and possibly she became
infected with Ebola virus. The victim was immediately isolated. Since
the scientist showed no symptoms of Ebola fever, it is considered
that there is no risk of onward transmission of disease.

Since Ebola virus is one of the most dangerous pathogens and in
almost 90 percent of cases leads to death, it was decided on Sat 14
Mar 2009 in consultation with a panel of experts from the U.S. and
Canada to administer a vaccine, which has never been tested a human
previuosly. Approximately 24 hours later the woman developed fever,
probably as a response to vaccination according to one doctor. In
Germany there has been no previous laboratory accident of this kind
according to Egbert Tannich of the (Bernhard-Nocht-Institute). A cure
does not exist. The mortality rate for the strain of Ebola virus
implicated in the Hamburg incident is 90 percent. In the most recent
major outbreaks, especially in the Congo and in Uganda, hundreds of
people died.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

******
[3]
Date: Tue 17 Mar 2009
Source: Blomberg.com [edited]
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...&refer=germany>


Ebola researcher in Germany is isolated after needle puncture
-------------------------------------------------------------
A researcher at a Hamburg laboratory was punctured with a needle that
may have contained traces of the deadly Ebola virus and was
transferred to an isolation ward following inoculation treatment, the
clinic said in a statement. The university clinic in Hamburg-
Eppendorf, which is treating the woman, ruled out any danger to the
public, according to the e-mailed statement. Ebola is an animal-borne
virus that causes high fever, diarrhea, vomiting and internal bleeding.

The woman, a scientist at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institut for tropical
medicine, was punctured through protective clothing while in a high
security laboratory on 12 Mar 2009. Though she showed no signs of
infection, a group of experts recommended an inoculation treatment
developed in the U.S., the clinic said.

The virus strain with which the unidentified woman had been working
has a mortality rate of around 90 percent. She was put into isolation
after developing a fever 24 hours later, and doctors were examining
whether the high temperature resulted from the treatment or from an
Ebola infection.

The World Health Organization said on 18 Feb 2009 that an Ebola
outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo had killed 15 people.


--
Communicated by:
Axel Pettinger
<Axel.Pettinger@t-online.de>

[It is possible that no infectious virus was transferred as a result
of the needle stick injury. However the outcome of any resultant
disease following transfer of even a small amount of Ebola virus, and
the consequences of administration of an untried experimental
vaccine, cannot be assessed at this stage. No information has been
released regarding the identity of the strain of Ebola virus involved
in this incident. There are 5 subtypes of Ebola virus. Four of the 5
have caused disease in humans: Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Ivory
Coast and Ebola-Bundibugyo. The 5th, Ebola-Reston, has caused disease
in nonhuman primates, but not in humans. Detailed information on
Ebola virus can be accessed at:
<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/Spb/m...s/ebola/qa.htm>. - Mod.CP]
.............................mpp/cp/ejp/dk
-

http://apex.oracle.com/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:3827450483447068::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,76634

------

</pre>

[Treyfish]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

With the vaccine tested in monkeys treated
Ebola lab accident in Hamburg
BY SIMONE UTLER - last updated: 18.03.2009 - 08:08 (RP)

• 
  
  
  
  • It sounds like a thriller: A scientist stands in working with the highly dangerous Ebola virus despite protective suit with a syringe. Because they are potentially infected, is located on the isolation ward of the Hamburg University Hospital.
    As the world's first man was the woman then treated with a vaccine, which so far only been tested in monkeys. There are still no signs of illness, but can Entwarnung final until after the 21-day incubation period are given.
    
    When the woman is a senior fellow of the prestigious Bernhard-Nocht-Institute (BNI) for Tropical Medicine. Even last Thursday unterlief her a small but potentially fatal mistake: "They pricked a finger in," said the deputy director of BNI, Egbert Tannich. Immediately thereafter, the woman was in Uniklinikum investigate and went to the station infection.

Because Ebola fever usually leads to death - in which this virus type, the mortality rate at 90 percent - and lack of other alternatives, opted Hamburger doctors in consultation with the patient and an international team of experts to be a serious step: The woman was on Saturday with a substance the vaccine, which so far only been tested in monkeys.

24 hours later the woman got a fever. This could be the usual Vaccination - or the first symptom of Ebola disease, the doctors said. Therefore, the woman moved to the isolation ward. There is currently in a large plastic tent and is used by doctors and nurses in yellow protective suits supplies. The doctors are optimistic, however. On the one hand, the Vaccination decreased. "The patient is completely healthy," said the director of the Medical University Hospital, J?rg Debatin. Even the circumstances of the accident, give us hope. The woman wore their gloves Three on each other. "This was the trick at the finger injury is minimal," said Debatin and added: "Furthermore, the syringe at the time of injection empty." An epidemic in the population, according to the doctors excluded.http://www.rp-online.de/public/artic...ger-Labor.html

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

google translated

Ebola researcher leaves isolation ward

19. Mar 11:10

The scientist was in a hospital room closed off have been brought because the suspect was that they deal with the highly dangerous virus had infected. Now doctors reduced their security precautions.

A week after the possible infection of a researcher with the Hamburg fatal Ebola virus is the woman no longer on the isolation ward. The researcher of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNI) was due to an infection station has been relocated, as the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf on Thursday. There was still no indication of an infection.

The woman had been in an accident in the high security laboratory of the institute with an empty syringe, razor, in the earlier samples were viral. She was then a novel vaccine against the virus get the hitherto never been a human being had been tested.

24 hours after the vaccination the patient had fever get. Initially, it was not clear whether it is a normal Vaccination involved or whether it was the first symptom of Ebola infection was. She was then hermetically sealed in an isolation ward has been placed.

Mortality rate at 90 percent

The hospital asserted that the blood of the patient continuously for a possible Ebola infection investigated and that at no time a danger to people contact would have been.

The most deadly Ebola virus is transmitted by direct contact with body fluids transferred. The disease triggers from severe internal bleeding, usually in a short time to death. 50 to 90 percent of those infected die. In the present now in Hamburg-type virus, the mortality rate even at 90 percent.

The first accident with the Ebola virus in Germany

In the last major outbreaks, especially in the Congo and in Uganda, hundreds of people died. The rain-Virus, the first on the Ebola River in Congo appeared, it is in the blood, urine and throat secretions proof. Even the suspicion of a disease is notifiable in Germany. A laboratory accident, as he has done in Hamburg, there were loud BNI in Germany yet.

The security conditions in the laboratory, which has more than 20 years of research with these viruses, but were good, said the deputy head Egbert Tannich. Only a small group of specially trained staff should operate there. The scientist concerned belonged for many years now. (nz / dpa)

http://www.netzeitung.de/wissenschaft/1302417.html

[tropical]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

#7:
"... A week after the possible infection of a researcher with the Hamburg fatal Ebola virus is the woman no longer on the isolation ward. "


Based on which scientifical facts the patient could be placed out of the isolation ward only a week after this kind of illness biohazard injury?

It was applyed a new previously "unproven on humans" vaccine.

Additionaly (and it was already written), the standard quarantine timeline for such cases is 3 weeks.

Why such breaking quarantine choice?

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

googe translated

19.03.2009


Ebola SUSPECT IN HAMBURG

Researcher released from isolation ward

So far no evidence of infection: A week after the injury with an Ebola virus with contaminated syringes, the researcher at the Hamburg Institute for Tropical Infectious station move. Previously, she was in a Isolierzelt of the environment has been sealed off.

Hamburg - The Martyrdom of the Hamburg scholar now lasts one week: last Thursday, had the researcher of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine with a needle pin-compatible with the highly dangerous Ebola virus has been contaminated. So far, there is however no evidence of infection, as the University Hospital of Hamburg (UKE) on Thursday. Therefore, the scientist now and leave the isolation ward in a single station on the infection may move.

Final clarity but it will only be revealed after the Inkubationsfrist in about two weeks give. The researcher had been in an accident in the high security laboratory of the Tropical Institute with an empty syringe, razor, in the earlier samples were viral. She was then made by the outside world have been screened and had agreed to an experiment: She had received a vaccine, which so far only been tested on animals was.

When the substance is a live attenuated vaccine. In experiments with macaques, he had already proved successful in humans, however, he was never before tested. Whether and how the vaccine or whether the effect of contact with the Ebola virus was not enough to trigger an infection, be sure not to say, said J&#246;rg Debatin, Medical Director of UKE. But: "There are some steps that we have done, the knowledge gained is maximum."

A few hours after immunization, there was a reaction to the vaccination - with a fever and head and body aches. Because Ebola-like symptoms, the doctors advised the patient for treatment under quarantine in a security tent at UKE. Since Monday she is febrile and has released no more complaints.

50 to 80 percent of those infected die

"We now know at least that the vaccine is tolerated in humans," says Stephan Becker, director of the Institute of Virology at the University of Marburg, in an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE. So far everything was proceeding as planned, including the vaccination response. Stefan G&#252;nther, Head of the Institute of Virology at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute says: "As with the monkey experiments, we have two days of the vaccination virus proof, now it's gone." This suggests that the immune system of the patient, at least against the vaccine had become active.

But so far it is unclear whether the woman has ever become infected. The probability of this is not very big, say the scientists. Every day, the doctors at UKE blood from her now, but so far they have no virus particles or antibodies found. "If the woman is not ill, but we in the blood not only antibodies to the vaccination virus, but also against Ebola viruses, we can assume that the vaccine has helped," says Stephan Becker.


The Hamburg case, Debatin data for the testing was particularly suitable because of the date of possible infection was known. That was important, because you know that the vaccine in the first 48 hours the best effect. The scientist of the Tropical Institute is going well physically, but mentally she was charged, said the director.

Finally, they are familiar with the virus and the possible consequences of good. Stefan Guenther also was in conversation with SPIEGEL ONLINE said: "The isolation ward is an extremely mentally stressful situation." The small tent, loneliness, worry - all the worse the situation of women. So he already had on Wednesday announced that the researcher soon from the isolation ward should be dismissed. Guenther also said: "We are still not over the hill."

In Germany, there were indications earlier UKE still no comparable case. Last it was in 2002 in Canada to a similar laboratory accident came. Occurring in Africa, the Ebola virus is one of the most dangerous pathogens in the world. It brings in 50 to 80 percent of cases, death.

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,614275,00.html#ref=rss

[Giuseppe]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

I think perhaps the worst laboratory incidents was the Behring one, when several workers were infected by another Filovirus, Marburg (from the name of town where laboratory operated). (1967)

[Giuseppe]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

European lab accidents raise biosecurity concerns - Reuters

European lab accidents raise biosecurity concerns

Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:39pm EDT
* Bird flu and Ebola virus accidents raise biosecurity fears
* European states urged to improve lab accident disclosure
* Northern Europe reports most lab-acquired infections

By Laura MacInnis and Debra Sherman
GENEVA/CHICAGO, March 19 (Reuters) -

Lab accidents involving bird flu and Ebola viruses have increased biosecurity fears in Europe, where public health experts say research on dangerous pathogens needs to be more strictly monitored.


A scientist in Germany last week pricked herself with a needle that was believed to be contaminated with a strain of the Ebola haemorrhagic virus with a mortality rate of around 90 percent. She is still under observation in hospital.

That accident added to public health concerns following the recent disclosure that deadly H5N1 bird flu virus samples were mixed with seasonal flu samples at a Baxter International (BAX.N) contracted laboratory in Austria.

Health authorities and industry groups reviewing European lab safety standards concluded in a new report that scientists and managers needed to be better trained in ways to prevent, handle and report such incidents.

While stressing that research on viruses and pathogens is important for vaccine, drug and diagnostic development, the group Biosafety Europe said "it also represents a risk to the population in case those organisms may spread in the environment due to a laboratory accident, poor laboratory practices or intentional removal and subsequent release (terrorist attack)."

"Adequate technical and physical containment measures and best biosafety and biosecurity practices must be implemented in those facilities to prevent accidental or intentional release of dangerous pathogens," it said in the recommendations, published on https://www.biosafety-europe.eu/Fina...ions_PDFs.html

Security experts say viruses and other biological agents could be used as weapons, as occurred in 2001 in the United States when envelopes containing anthrax were sent to media outlets and U.S. lawmakers, kiling five people.

HUMAN ERROR
Baxter spokesman Chris Bona said the Illinois-based company learned in February about the H5N1 contamination, which was due to "a combination of process, technical and human error."

The flu virus samples were meant only for testing and not vaccine or product development, according to the spokesman, who said Baxter has "put corrective measures in place" after the accident but declined to give details "for proprietary reasons."

All 37 people exposed to the mixture at subcontractor sites in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, and at AVIR Greenhills Biotechnology, an Austrian company that bought the samples, tested negative for H5N1 bird flu, Bona said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) fears that virus, which has killed 256 people since 2003, could trigger a deadly flu pandemic if it mutates and starts to spread more easily.

Biosafety Europe's project coordinator Kathrin Summermatter said that better training and more collaboration on safety standards could help reduce pathogen risks in European labs.

"We found that even though there are European guidelines concerning biosafety, the awareness, the implementation and the control was not the same in the different European countries," she told Reuters by email.

The group's report, compiled before the recent bird flu and Ebola accidents, said that Northern European countries disclosed more laboratory-acquired infections than other parts of Europe, "which in part may reflect reporting differences."

Summermatter said greater transparency about incidents that do occur was essential to help identify and reduce risks: "It is important to learn from the experience of other laboratories."

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
-

<cite cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSLJ55693920090319?sp=true">European lab accidents raise biosecurity concerns | Industries | Healthcare | Reuters</cite>

[Giuseppe]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

CTV.ca | Canadian-made Ebola vaccine used after lab accident

Canadian-made Ebola vaccine used after lab accident

Updated Thu. Mar. 19 2009 10:12 PM ET
The Canadian Press
TORONTO --

An experimental vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus made by researchers at Canada's national laboratory in Winnipeg was given to a German scientist who may have been infected during a lab accident last week.


The scientific director of the National Microbiology Laboratory said Canadian officials were asked to provide some vaccine to the unnamed woman within hours of the accident, which took place March 12.

Dr. Frank Plummer said he and Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, quickly came to the conclusion they would allow use of the unlicensed vaccine following a request from the woman's doctor. A team of international experts in viral hemorrhagic fevers had recommended use of the vaccine.

The vaccine was on its way to Germany the same day, Plummer said.

"It's a pretty unusual situation to be in. But we thought that there's a chance to save a life here," he said Thursday.

The vaccine arrived in Germany last Friday and was given to the woman the next day, making her the first person to receive this vaccine. The scientist who led the development team praised Canada's quick response.

"It was a tremendous response on the Winnipeg side to get that out the same day and get it over and get this delivered," said Dr. Heinz Feldmann, former head of the special pathogens unit at the Winnipeg lab.

"She got immunized within 40 hours after exposure. And considering that this had to be shipped across the Atlantic, I think that's quite an achievement."

Feldmann is now chief of the laboratory of virology at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont.

He knows the woman but has not spoken with her since the accident. Feldmann said she made the decision to use the vaccine.

A news blog of the journal Science reported the woman's fever spiked about 12 hours after receiving the vaccine. While it's not clear if that was a response to the vaccine or a sign of onset of disease, the timing suggests it was a sign her system was responding to the vaccine, Feldmann said.

The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, pricked herself with a needle while working with Ebola virus at the Bernard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg. It's not yet known if she infected herself in the process.

Her temperature has since returned to normal. And as of Thursday -- a week after her accident -- she was not showing signs of disease. While that is considered a hopeful sign, the virus has an incubation period of between four and 21 days, so the woman is not yet in the clear.

"She's still within the window. But every day that goes by makes it more likely she'll be OK," Plummer said.

Feldmann suggested if she is still disease free by Monday, people may start to feel more comfortable.

The vaccine was made by scientists at the Winnipeg lab in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., and the biodefence clinical research branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

While testing in animals, including non-human primates, has been very promising, the vaccine has never been tested on people. In fact, no one is really certain what a human dose would be; Plummer said the Winnipeg team calculated what they thought would be a human dose based on the work in macaque monkeys.

"You're really flying by the seat of your pants, because you don't know," he said.

A lab accident like this is a nightmare in the research world. In 2004, a Russian scientist died following a similar exposure to the Ebola virus, which is one of the deadliest pathogens known to humankind.

Between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of people infected with Ebola virus succumb to a horrible death of internal bleeding. There is currently no cure, though some people have survived with what is called supportive care -- essentially keeping patients hydrated while waiting for the body's immune response to catch up to and hopefully overtake the infection.

Word of the accident spread quickly within the small global community of researchers who work on Ebola and similar viruses. They convened a conference call to discuss options that might be open to the woman and recommended the Winnipeg vaccine.

Several Ebola vaccines are in development and one, made by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, has even been safety tested in humans.

But the Winnipeg vaccine has been shown to increase chances of survival in what's called a post-exposure setting.

Most vaccines are given to prevent illness. But a few, like those for smallpox and rabies, are used after infection to help the immune system fight off the invading pathogen.

In a study published in 2007 in the journal PLoS Pathogens, the Winnipeg team reported three types of animals survived infection when given the vaccine post-infection. Four of eight primates injected with a lethal dose of Ebola virus survived when they were given the vaccine within 30 minutes of exposure.

The vaccine also protected 100 per cent of mice and 66 per cent of guinea pigs treated within the 30 minutes window. When researchers waited 24 hours to give infected guinea pigs the vaccine, 50 per cent survived.
-

<cite cite="http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090319/ebola_canada_090319/20090319?hub=Canada">CTV.ca | Canadian-made Ebola vaccine used after lab accident</cite>

[Shiloh]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/...-Scientist.php

Experimental Ebola vaccine used on human
The Associated Press
Published: March 27, 2009

BERLIN: It was a nightmare scenario worthy of a sci-fi movie script: A scientist accidentally pricked her finger with a needle used to inject the deadly Ebola virus into lab mice.

Within hours of the accident, several members of a tightly bound, yet farflung community of virologists, biologists and others tensely gathered in a trans-Atlantic telephone conference to map out a way to save her life.

The outcome was stunning. Within 24 hours of the March 12 lab accident, an experimental vaccine ? never before tried on humans ? was on its way to Germany from a lab in Canada.

Within 40 hours, the at-risk scientist, a 45-year-old woman whose identity has not been revealed, was injected with the vaccine.

So far, so good.

If the woman is still healthy on April 2, she can consider herself safe.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever, mostly seen only in Africa, is one of the world's most feared diseases. It begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Days later, some victims begin bleeding through the nose, mouth and eyes. Depending on the strain of virus, it can kill up to 90 percent of victims. It has no cure. It is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person.

Dr. Stefan Guenther, head of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, where the researcher was working, said tests so far show that the scientist is healthy and free of the virus.

The peak period for an outbreak in the 21-day Ebola incubation period passed this week, he said.

"We are now on the downside," Guenther told The Associated Press, noting that with each passing day the chance of infection taking root diminishes.

One complicating factor is that it's not entirely clear the researcher was actually infected with the virus. At the time of the accident, she was wearing three layers of protective gloves. Though the needle stuck her, the plunger was not pushed so it's not certain the virus entered her bloodstream.

If she doesn't become infected, scientists may not know if it was the vaccine or luck.

There are two other known accidents involving researchers who came into direct contact with a similar strain of the virus. A Russian researcher died from it. A British scientist became ill but survived.

When the accident happened, Guenther knew that he had to act swiftly.

He sent out an e-mail to fellow scientists in the Ebola research community. One was Dr. Heinz Feldmann, chief of the virology laboratory at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a U.S. National Institutes of Health research facility in Hamilton, Montana, who sprang into action.

"We considered this as serious as (the Russian) case, in terms of the exposure," Feldmann told the AP in a telephone interview last weekend.

Feldmann was part of an international group of experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Fort Detrick, Maryland-based U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases; the Canadian Public Health Agency, Boston University and the University of Texas Medical Branch.

The night of the accident, Feldmann, Guenther and several other experts in Ebola research were on the teleconference debating the options: a live vaccine developed by Feldmann and colleagues, but untried on humans; a treatment designed to interfere with the virus's ability to multiply; and the use of an anti-coagulant that Army research found had saved the lives of monkeys exposed to Ebola.

The one that emerged as the strongest, Guenther said, was the vaccine developed by Feldmann and collaborating researchers at several institutions. Much of the key works was done about nine years ago in Winnipeg, at a microbiology research lab run by the Canadian government, where Feldmann worked at the time.

Although the vaccine is based on a different kind of virus, researchers used genetic engineering to make the virus look like Ebola, triggering an immune system response.

In a 2008 study, Feldmann and other researchers showed that when given 20 minutes after a lethal dose of Ebola virus, four of eight monkeys survived. There were no vaccine side effects, Feldmann said.

"The group came very swiftly to agreement that this vaccine would be the best ... because it had showed an effectiveness when used after exposure," Guenther said, referring to its use in experiments.

In the end, the woman whose life was at risk made the decision herself. She took the vaccine about 40 hours after the accident. Within 12 hours she had a headache, muscle pain and a fever, but recovered quickly.

"Those are normal reactions to live attenuated vaccines," Feldman told AP.

If no symptoms occur in the remaining several days, "she was either not infected or the treatment was successful," Feldmann said. He noted that while future study of her immune response may help to clarify the question, it will most likely remain open to interpretation.

Page 2 of 2

"It's hard to tell whether we'll ever know if she was infected or not."

Either way, Feldmann said scientists cannot draw conclusions about the experimental vaccine's safety or effectiveness. "It was to save her life, that was the priority," he said.

Even so, it might have been five years or more before the vaccine would ever have been tried on a human, because of additional animal studies and production issues, he said.

Guenther expressed hope that the situation might attract more money for more research in the field of such vaccines.

"Of course, we can't just go to Africa, now that we have seen such a vaccine went well when used on a human ... but it is also a direction that we will have to pursue," Guenther said.

"Perhaps this will be like a little push, where one says, yes, it's possible. Everything that we are doing on an experimental level can actually be put into practice."

___

[tropical]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

#13:
"In the end, the woman whose life was at risk made the decision herself. She took the vaccine about 40 hours after the accident. Within 12 hours she had a headache, muscle pain and a fever, but recovered quickly.

"Those are normal reactions to live attenuated vaccines," Feldman told AP.
...
"she was either not infected or the treatment was successful,"
...
"It's hard to tell whether we'll ever know if she was infected or not."

... cannot draw conclusions about the experimental vaccine's safety or effectiveness. "It was to save her life, that was the priority," he said.

Even so, it might have been five years or more before the vaccine would ever have been tried on a human, because of additional animal studies and production issues, he said.

Guenther expressed hope that the situation might attract more money for more research in the field of such vaccines.

"Of course, we can't just go to Africa, now that we have seen such a vaccine went well when used on a human ... but it is also a direction that we will have to pursue," Guenther said.

"Perhaps this will be like a little push, where one says, yes, it's possible. Everything that we are doing on an experimental level can actually be put into practice.""
___

""Of course, we can't just go to Africa, now that we have seen such a vaccine went well when used on a human ..."

Why not?

Not as an preventive vaccination, but what have realy to loose the patients already infected from this illness (in Africa,...)?

They can also make an decision to take it soon after exposure ...

[Shiloh]

Re: Ebola Researcher in Germany Is Isolated After Needle Puncture

Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...50xKwD97ABDB00

Researcher healthy 21 days after Ebola accident

HAMBURG (AP) ? A researcher who was exposed to the deadly Ebola virus and received an experimental vaccine has passed the disease's 21-day incubation period without showing any sign of falling ill, her German employer said Thursday.

Dr. Stephan Guenther, head of the laboratory where the 45-year-old woman worked, said that she is being prepared for release from a Hamburg hospital.

"We believe she's overcome everything," Guenther said. "It's been three weeks. That's a very conservative estimate for Ebola."

The researcher, whose identity has not been released, was conducting experiments on mice when a needle accidentally slipped and nicked her finger through three layers of protective gloves.

Within 48 hours, she was administered an experimental vaccine for Ebola, never tried before on humans.

It remains unclear whether the vaccine prevented the woman from falling ill or whether she was never infected with the deadly virus in the laboratory of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg.

Guenther said researchers will analyze the woman's blood for antibodies in an attempt to determine whether they came solely from the vaccine or whether she was generating others on her own, signaling that she had been infected.

"It's possible we'll never know with 100 percent certainty," he said.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever, seen mostly in Africa, is one of the world's most feared diseases.

It begins with flu-like symptoms, followed by bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Days later, some victims begin bleeding through the nose, mouth and eyes. Depending on the strain of virus, it can kill up to 90 percent of victims.

So far, there is no cure. The virus is spread through direct contact with the blood or secretions of an infected person.