Infectious Disease Hot Spots

Over the past decade, infectious disease epidemics have become of great interest not only to scientists, but to all persons around the world. Thanks to movies like Contagion and World War Z, people around the world are becoming exposed to the reality of dangerous pathogens in pop culture. Globalization and increased connectivity around the world are also making it more necessary to know about ongoing disease outbreaks. As the dangers of the spread of disease become more apparent, new methods for stopping the spread of disease are being developed.

Ebola Vaccine Trials Using Ring Vaccination

Gathering samples to test in the lab

Of particular interest to many are the recent outbreaks of Ebola virus. Over the past 10 years the world has seen the most expansive outbreaks of Ebola virus in history. One of the greatest challenges to combating the random appearance and spread of this virus is that we don't even know where the virus hides! In an effort to catch up to this virus that has us on our heels, new vaccines have been developed and vaccine distribution methods are being tested.

This summer I interned with the National Institute of Health (NIH). While there, I worked on research in the laboratory of virology under the director Heinz Feldmann, developer of the rVSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine that is currently in trials. A hot spot in the development of vaccines that has been pioneered by Dr. Feldmann is the use of recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis virus. Using this method, it is possible to combine the genetic material of Vesicular Stomatitis virus with parts of the Ebola virus genome that are not infectious. Vesicular Stomatitis virus is a virtually harmless virus that most humans have never been exposed to, but that we develop strong antibodies against. By infecting ourselves with this virus which is combined with some genetic material from the Ebola virus, our immune systems can recognize future infection with the Ebola virus. This new method of vaccine development is not only being used to gain immunity to Ebola virus, but also to Nipah, Marburg, Lassa, Crimean-Congo, and many other viral diseases.

To distribute such vaccines in times of outbreaks, public health workers have begun adopting the ring vaccination method. When a person is suspected to be infected with a disease such as Ebola, ring vaccination calls for every contact of that person to be vaccinated. by creating the vaccine "rings" around potential cases of disease in a timely manner, it is possible to slow and stop the spread of disease. In the current Ebola outbreak that is coming to a close in the Congo, this method paired with new vaccine development methods have been attributed the credit for saving hundreds if not thousands of lives.