"The unprecedented scale of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has intensified efforts to develop safe and effective vaccines," said Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to AFP. The institute is developing the vaccine alongside GlaxoSmithKline.
Hopes are that the vaccine will be able to play a role in ending the largest outbreak of Ebola in history, which has killed nearly 5,700 people in West Africa. The research could also be critically important in preventing future outbreaks.
"Based on these positive results from the first human trial of this candidate vaccine, we are continuing our accelerated plan for larger trials to determine if the vaccine is efficacious in preventing Ebola infection," Fauci added.
There is currently no cure for the deadly virus, but early detection and treatment has proven effective in saving lives.
NIH revealed that in the first phase of testing, all 20 adults who had been injected with a higher or lower dose of the vaccine developed antibodies needed to fight Ebola. The organization added that it is "in active discussions with Liberian officials and other partners about next-stage vaccine testing in West Africa" for efficacy and safety.
Although infection cases have mostly been concentrated in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, a number of western nations have also reported cases of Ebola. Earlier this week, Italy confirmed that one of its doctors who had been treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone came down with the disease.