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Russia’s health ministry, Rusal Co finish anti-Ebola vaccination campaign in Guinea

Russia’s health ministry and Russia-based Rusal, a world’s biggest aluminum producers, have completed an anti-Ebola vaccination campaign in Guinea

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Russia’s health ministry and Russia-based Rusal, a world’s biggest aluminum producers, have completed an anti-Ebola vaccination campaign in Guinea with the use of the Russia-made GamEvakCombi vaccine, the press service of the Russian health ministry said on Thursday.

"One of the world’s biggest aluminum producers and the Russian health ministry are pleased to announce that the anti-Ebola vaccination campaign in Guinea is over," the press service said.

As many as 2,000 people in Guinea have been inoculated against Ebola as part of a post-authorization trial of the GamEvakCombi vaccine. Pre-clinical and clinical trials of the vaccine proved its safety and enhanced efficiency as compared with foreign-made analogues.

According to Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, this vaccine is used to inoculated Russian medics and other specialists who have to work in regions with risks of contracting Ebola.

According to earlier reports, Rusal invested from 12 to 13 million US dollars in anti-Ebola efforts. The company has been present in Guinea for more than ten years and is one of the biggest employers in the country.

The World Health Organization describes Ebola virus disease (formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever) as "a severe, often fatal illness, with a case fatality rate of up to 90%." Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the blood, body fluids and tissues of infected animals or people. People are infectious as long as their blood and secretions contain the virus. The incubation period is from 2 to 21 days.

The virus was first registered in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1976, with outbreaks reported from Sudan, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, and Cote d’Ivoire. The latest Ebola epidemics in West Africa in 2014-2016 killed more than 11,300 people, with more than 28,600 catching the disease. Moscow of death cases were reported from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.