GlaxoSmithKline has announced that two vaccinations for Ebola will be starting a phase 3 clinical trial in Liberia beginning in February. GSK, an English drug research company, states the first bundle of the Ebola vaccine is anticipated to arrive in Liberia today. The package holds 300 vials of the vaccine and is the initial shipment to arrive in a major Ebola-infected country.

This is the first time an exploratory Ebola vaccine will be tried in a country prominent with the disease. The Ebola virus is wide-spread across West Africa with a total of 21,797 cases and 8,675 deaths in the most prevalent countries, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The clinical trial will contrast the control vaccine to the candidate vaccine in order to determine if the results seen in the phase 1 clinical trials are rendered into a safeguard against the Ebola virus. GSK is teaming up with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC to collaborate on the design of the vaccine and possibly offer future support to other countries affected. According to BBC News, 30,000 volunteers are expected to participate in the clinical trial. The expectations are for 10,000 people to be given the GSK vaccine, another 10,000 to receive the second experimental vaccine, and 10,000 people to receive a placebo. Once complete, the results will determine if the vaccines offer any protection from the disease.

The phase 1 GSK clinical trial began in the United States with 20 healthy individuals and 60 healthy adults in Britain in September 2014. The trial later spread to Mali and Switzerland as well. Medical Press describes early results from the phase 1 clinical trials to be safe and states people who received the vaccine did develop antibodies to help protect them from the Ebola virus.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and Oikaros, a bio-pharmaceutical company, worked together with GSK to develop the recently shipped T-cell based vaccine. The vaccine does not contain any components of the Ebola virus, but is rather a chimpanzee cold virus that is used as a carrier virus to bring gentle hereditary components of the Zaire strain of the virus to the bloodstream of infected individuals. A second vaccine, from Merck and NewLink Genetics will also be tested according to CNN.

The Ebola virus is a deadly disease that spreads in humans through infected fruit bats or primates, contaminated objects, and blood or bodily fluids through direct contact. The average incubation period of contracting the virus is eight to 10 days, however, symptoms can begin to appear as early as two days, or as late as 21 days after exposure. Symptoms can include severe headaches, fever, muscle pain and weakness, diarrhea, fatigue, abdominal pain, vomiting, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Currently, the only prevention for Ebola is practicing safe hygiene and avoiding contact with people or objects that have contracted the virus.

The Zaire strain of the Ebola virus is one of five strains of the virus. Ebola was discovered near the Ebola river in 1976. A total of 35 outbreaks have occurred since the disease was first discovered, as noted by the CDC. A phase 3 clinical trial taking place in Liberia, a country with a widespread transmission of the disease, is a major medical breakthrough.