Zika Vaccine, Race For A Vaccine

FELIPE DANA/AP

Zika virus vaccine could be ready for emergency use before end of 2016 - A vaccine promising to turn Zika to zilch could be available for emergency use within the next year.

A Canadian developer of a Zika virus antidote offered the promising timetable as global health officials scrambled to contain the rapidly-spreading mosquito-borne disease.

U.S. officials had estimated that it would take several years before a vaccine would be widely available.

“The first thing is to be ready for the worst,” scientist Gary Kobinger, who is leading an international team working on the vaccine, told Reuters.

"This vaccine is easy to produce. It could be cranked to very high levels in a really short time."

Word of the new virus came as officials stressed that athletes competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil will be safe.

The South American nation has been the hardest-hit of all the countries battling the disease.

Brazilian officials have confirmed more than 3,700 cases of microcephaly, a neurological condition linked to Zika that causes babies to be born with undeveloped brains and unusually small heads.

In a bid to stave off mounting concerns, the International Olympic Committee sent a two-page note to all country committees outlining the latest medical advice concerning Zika.

“All parties are taking action to address this topic, and are following developments closely,” the IOC said.

Kobinger, who helped develop a trial vaccine that was successful in fighting Ebola in West Africa, did not say when the Zika antidote might be widely available.

Still, the potential for a breakthrough marked a rare dose of good news after a week consumed by ominous warnings about the disease.

The World Health Organization has said that Zika is spreading "explosively" and could infect up to four million people across the Americas.

A total of three New Yorkers — including a pregnant woman — have contracted the disease while traveling abroad, officials said.

American health officials have conceded that there’s been little research on Zika despite it being first identified in 1947.

“This is a brand new virus, so we, prior to this time, have not spent anything on Zika,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci said his researchers are working on two vaccines — but neither is likely to be available within the next few years.

“While these approaches are promising, it is important to understand we will not have a widely available safe and effective Zika vaccine this year and probably not in the next few years, Fauci said.”