As Ebola epidemic begins to slow, trials of drugs and vaccines speed up.

A s local and international public health officials work to end the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, efforts to develop therapies and vaccines against the virus are ramping up. In late January, officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the Ebola epidemic had slowed. The WHO noted that for the first time since June 29, 2014, there were fewer than 100 new confirmed cases in the 3 hardest hit countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (http://bit .ly/1LimWSP). " Things are currently trending in a good direction, suggesting growing control, " said Inger Damon, MD, PhD, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Ebola Response Team Incident Commander. " But there is still considerable work to be done. " International response efforts are shifting from reducing the number of new infections to trying to completely eliminate new infections. To do this, they are focusing on thorough contact tracing and surveillance of potentially exposed individuals for the 21-day period during which symptoms may emerge. " When we do that efficiently, it allows us to rapidly identify new cases and break the chain of transmission, " Damon said. Damon and other experts are quick to caution that ongoing vigilance is necessary to prevent resurgence. About 200 CDC staffers remain in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, providing technical advice on infection control, health communications , exit screening for travelers, and coordination of surveillance and contact tracing. " A single new case is enough to reig-nite an outbreak, " said Brice de la Vingne, Médecins Sans Frontières' (MSF's) director of operations in a statement on the organi-zation's website (http://bit.ly/15KGdfr). " Until everyone who has come into contact with Ebola has been identified, we cannot rest easy. " Fast-Tracking Interventions The ongoing epidemic has sparked an unprecedented level of multinational cooperation to speed clinical trials of potential thera-peutics and vaccines. Currently, the most effective treatment for Ebola virus disease is fluid and electrolyte replacement and other supportive care, said Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), during a press briefing hosted by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in late January are no drugs proven to be safe and effective against Ebola virus disease, Fauci said. But some experimental therapies have been used to treat patients with Eblola virus disease under compassionate care exemptions. For example, several infected patients in the United …