What’s In The Needle #2: Rabies And Ebola Combined

What’s In The Needle #2: Rabies And Ebola Combined 

You might wonder whether or not I’ve added rabies just to put a ‘scare’ in my readers, but the truth is that the DoD, the NIH, NIAID, and Thomas Jefferson University have teamed up to produce a genuine vaccine candidate built on the rabies vaccine. In a way, it makes sense. In Africa, many animals contract both rabies and Ebola and can spread both diseases to human through a bite. And until recently, very few with deep pockets felt inclined to put their investment dollars into a vaccine that might be used or not (vaccines do have a shelf life). Let’s face it, most pharmaceutical companies prefer to make a profit, and their investors expect one, so it makes selling the idea much easier if you can guarantee sales year after year. Rabies vaccines must be repeated every 1-2 years (at least in our dog they do), so it’s probable that wildlife managers and zoos would line up to buy something that protected against rabies and filoviruses.