Three experimental vaccines being developed by researchers at
Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital and the Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research had already shown promise in mice — but monkeys are a much
better model of how the medicines will work in humans.
All three of the vaccines were found to be safe
and protected the monkeys against infection with the virus, according to
the report published in Science.
The urgency for a vaccine to protect against
Zika infection has intensified as the virus spreads rapidly across Latin
America and the Caribbean. This week an unprecedented travel advisory
was given for southern Florida after more than a dozen people were
diagnosed with Zika after being bitten by "homegrown" mosquitoes.
Zika virus is most dangerous to pregnant women,
because it can cause severe birth defects in babies if they are infected
in the womb.
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