THE key to a vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus could lie in Oxford.

Professor Adrian Hill, of Headington, is leading a team running trials of a new vaccine to tackle the disease.

Ebola has already killed more than 1,400 people in West Africa.

Prof Hill, of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University, is seeking 60 volunteers in Oxford so he can start safety tests for the vaccine next month.

A £2.8m grant from the Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the UK Department for International Development is funding the trials.

Similar tests will be carried out in the United States by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Prof Hill, director of the Jenner Institute, said: “The tragic events unfolding in Africa demand an urgent response.
“We and all our partners on this project are optimistic that this vaccine may prove useful against Ebola.” 

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