Ebola virus finally has its first-ever FDA approved vaccine

For the first time in history, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine for the Ebola virus.
The news was announced sometime last week.
The vaccine comes after the virus recently killed over 2,000 people in the eastern DRC.

Ebola is one of the deadliest killers in the world. Back in 2014, the Zaire strain of the virus caused more than 11,000 deaths during an outbreak in West Africa.

Recently, it has killed over 2,000 people in the current outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - the second-highest in history.

Things are finally about to get better with the approval of a vaccine called Ervebo.

How does the vaccine work?

Developed by New Jersey-based Merck & Co. and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the vaccine protects people 18 and older against ebola.

The FDA has approved a vaccine for Ebola AFP

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The vaccine is given as a single injection. It is found to be 100% effective when given at least 10 days in advance of potential exposure. However, it is not clear how long protection from the vaccine lasts.

According to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, the new vaccine is "a triumph of American global health leadership."

Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood, body fluids and the tissue of infected wild animals or people.

How Ebola atacks the body AFP

The highly contagious virus can also be transmitted through surfaces and materials that have come into contact with an infected person or animal. Once contacted, it ends in organ failure and eventually death.