WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Ebola Vaccine Could Be Ready By Year-End

Ruth Atkins is the first person to be tested with the new Ebola vaccine in the UK. A former NHS nurse has become the first Briton to test a potentially life-saving new vaccine to tackle the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa.  Ruth Atkins was injected with the experimental drug, called Chimp Adenovirus type 3 (ChAd3), which has so far only been trialled in primates, on Wednesday, September 17, 2014. Credit: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

The World Health Organization says a vaccine might be available in large enough quantities by the end of the year to help control West Africa's Ebola outbreak.

There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, although scientists are testing two vaccines.

Ebola is believed to have sickened more than 5,800 people in five West African countries. This outbreak is the first to hit urban areas and it has been difficult to control by the traditional methods of isolating sick people and monitoring everyone they came in contact with.

Previously experts had said a drug or vaccine was unlikely to be ready in time to help in this outbreak. On Wednesday, WHO said projected year-end quantities of vaccines could be large enough to have some impact.