MOSCOW, August 05. /ITAR-TASS/. There is no threat of Ebola epidemic in Russia, a centre at Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor is developing a vaccine, chief Anna Popova said on Tuesday.

Russian airports had been constantly monitoring the flights from Ebola-affected countries since March, she said. A vaccine was now in pre-clinical trial at the state virology and biotechnology centre Vektor, said Popova.

The Ebola virus now circulating in West Africa was the Zaire subtype, one of the five and the most lethal one, she added. The fever has killed 729; more than 1,300 cases have been recorded.

The World Health Organization (WHO) decided to dispatch additional medics to Sierra Leone where the outbreak started in February, and Guinea and Liberia where it spread. WHO Director General Margaret Chan said the current Ebola outbreak was the major in the 40 years since the disease was discovered.