--- title: Ebola: Potential Vaccine Shows Promise but Spread Worsening description: Promising trials of a potential vaccine have been carried out on monkeys, but the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to expand rapidly. canonical: https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/ author: Per Liljas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-08T07:28:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:45.171Z article:section: Health og:title: Half the People With Ebola Got It in the Past Month og:description: With the epidemic accelerating to alarming levels, the race is on for a vaccine og:url: https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt173cd6ff17ee584b/6986a2463617608b4190dbcf/rtr44vl5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Participants arrive at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Half the People With Ebola Got It in the Past Month twitter:description: With the epidemic accelerating to alarming levels, the race is on for a vaccine twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt173cd6ff17ee584b/6986a2463617608b4190dbcf/rtr44vl5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Potential Vaccine Shows Some Promise, but the Spread of Ebola Is Accelerating > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KlA2XSgt.m3u8) (1:52)  _Published 2014-08-26. While the Ebola virus remains contained to West Africa, deadly fear and ignorance about the illness have spread worldwide._ by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Sep 8, 2014 7:28 AM UTC  Participants arrive at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva September 4, 2014. Participants arrive at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva September 4, 2014. Denis Balibouse / Reuters—REUTERS by [Per Liljas](https://time.com/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Sep 8, 2014 7:28 AM UTC A [study](http://news.yahoo.com/experimental-ebola-vaccine-protects-monkeys-10-months-170719536--finance.html), published Sunday in _Nature Medicine_, details promising results of a possible Ebola vaccine following trials carried out on monkeys. The animals [received](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nebraska-doctors-say-ebola-patient-making-progress) “complete short-term and partial long-term protection” from a single shot, and “durable” immunity after being given booster shots two months later, researchers said. Human trials will begin this week, and assessments of its efficacy and safety are expected by early November. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Friday that it would attempt to fast-track the use of [experimental drugs](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/monkey-study-ebola-vaccine-works-needs-booster) to combat a West African epidemic now virtually out of control. About half of the estimated 4,000 people who have contracted Ebola since the outbreak began in March have been [infected](http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/09/05/we%5Fcould%5Fhave%5Fstopped%5Fthis%5Febola%5Fvirus%5Fworld%5Fhealth%5Forganization?utm%5Fcontent=buffera73ed&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fcampaign=buffer) over the past month. The real number of infected is likely much higher, since that figure only accounts for lab-confirmed cases. If the accelerated speed of the spread continues, WHO’s projection of 20,000 cases by October could well be surpassed. New cases have been [confirmed](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/opinion/sunday/from-bad-to-worse-with-ebola.html?%5Fr=0) in Nigeria and Senegal, and a grave lack of hospital beds in Liberia is sending scores of suspected victims back to their homes, severely aggravating the risk of death and additional contagion. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) [announced](http://online.wsj.com/articles/deadly-disappointment-awaits-at-ebola-clinics-due-to-lack-of-space-1410137713) Thursday it would build 10 Ebola centers with 100 beds each. The European Union also said Friday that it would pledge $181.3 million to the worst-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea — but huge problems remain. “We could get a bunch of tents and beds in here in no time,” Jeremy Konyndyk, director of USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, [told](http://online.wsj.com/articles/deadly-disappointment-awaits-at-ebola-clinics-due-to-lack-of-space-1410137713) the _Wall Street_ _Journal._ “The hard part is who staffs those beds.” WHO calculates that it takes between 200 and 250 health workers to care for 80 Ebola patients. But the process of attracting personnel to assist in the battle has proved to be difficult. For now, many infected people unable to receive hospital care are relying on home treatment kits provided by USAID. Doctors Without Borders is urgently looking to hire additional workers, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is initiating a recruitment and training program. If an American doctor who is currently being treated for Ebola continues to make [progress](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nebraska-doctors-say-ebola-patient-making-progress), it is possible that recruitment efforts will be given a slight boost. However, the recovery of Dr. Rick Sacra is by no means certain. The 51-year-old obstetrician and experienced missionary worker was infected on assignment in Liberia, and arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha on Friday. He is weak, but in a stable condition, and is showing encouraging signs to staff. “He’s made a few jokes,” Dr. Phil Smith, one of the doctors tending to Sacra, [told](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nebraska-doctors-say-ebola-patient-making-progress) AP on Sunday. “In my experience, that’s a good sign. But it’s too early to say he has turned a corner.” His wife issued a statement Saturday asking the world to continue to focus on the wider outbreak and not just her husband’s illness. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/"},"headline":"Potential Vaccine Shows Some Promise, but the Spread of Ebola Is Accelerating","datePublished":"2014-09-08T07:28:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:45.171Z","description":"Half the people who now have Ebola got it in the past month","url":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","ebola","outbreak","epidemic","West Africa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt173cd6ff17ee584b/6986a2463617608b4190dbcf/rtr44vl5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt173cd6ff17ee584b/6986a2463617608b4190dbcf/rtr44vl5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Participants arrive at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva","caption":"Participants arrive at the opening of a consultation of international experts on potential Ebola therapies and vaccines in Geneva","creditText":"Denis Balibouse / Reuters—REUTERS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/","name":"Potential Vaccine Shows Some Promise, but the Spread of Ebola Is Accelerating"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Fear and Ignorance Spread Ebola","description":"While the Ebola virus remains contained to West Africa, deadly fear and ignorance about the illness have spread worldwide.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KlA2XSgt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-26T14:04:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KlA2XSgt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/","duration":"PT1M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3296659/ebola-vaccine-monkeys-who-disease-usaid-msf-cdc-rick-sacra/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```