Chinese military to test Ebola vaccine

(Xinhua) Updated: 2014-12-25 20:42

Chinese soldiers stand parade during the opening of a new Ebola virus clinic sponsored by China, in Monrovia, Liberia, Nov 25, 2014. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - The Chinese military has developed and will test an Ebola vaccine on humans this month, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Spokesman Yang Yujun said at a regular press briefing that the vaccine had been developed by a research team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

"The vaccine has recently passed appraisal by state and military authorities and will begin clinical tests in December," Yang said.

Yang said the China-developed Ebola vaccine was the third one to have been put into clinical tests in the world. It is also the world's first 2014-genetic mutation Ebola vaccine.

Yang said that since September, the Chinese military had sent some 300 medical personnel and specialists to Sierra Leone and Liberia in eastern Africa to help control the epidemic.

He said the Chinese medical teams had worked closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), local governments and the UN peace keeping force in Liberia to jointly combat the spread of the deadly disease.