A health worker injects a woman with an Ebola vaccine during a trial in Monrovia
WHO has decided to initiate a large-scale trial of Ebola Vaccine in Guinea. The first human clinical trial of another vaccine, Zmapp, was initiated recently in the U.S. and Liberia. In Picture: A health worker injects a woman with an Ebola vaccine during a trial in Monrovia. REUTERS/James Giahyue

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has decided to start its first large-scale human clinical trial of its new experimental vaccine in Guinea to see the potency to curb the outbreak of the Ebola virus across several nations.

The United Nations health agency revealed that as of now, the effectiveness of the vaccine will be monitored only in the areas that are worst hit by the Ebola outbreak, mainly Basse Guinea. According to the agency, all those who are exposed to the virus or those who are at the risk of developing the disease will be vaccinated during the trial.

WHO is planning to apply the smallpox vaccination strategy to cure the affected people in the country. The health organisation eradicated smallpox outbreak in the 1970s by creating a buffer zone around the patient affected by smallpox to prevent it from spreading any further.

The Canadian Ebola vaccine, VSV-EBOV, now licensed by Merck, if found effective, will officially become the first preventive vaccine against the deadly epidemic disease.

"If a vaccine is found effective, it will be the first preventive tool against Ebola in history," said Dr Margaret Chan from WHO, reported pantagraph.com.

Meanwhile, Liberia released its last patient, Beatrice Yardolo, who was receiving treatment for Ebola in a centre in Monrovia. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the government of Liberia recently joined hands for pilot testing of the drug Zmapp for the treatment of the disease. Zmapp was earlier used is 2014 to treat the patients in an emergency across Europe, US and Africa.

Ebola has reportedly killed more than 9,800 people in the Western African nations, including Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

To report a problem or to leave a feedback on the article, send an e-mail to emailtoguneet@gmail.com.