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Human trials sped up to deliver millions of Ebola vaccines in 2015

Millions of doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine will be ready by the end of 2015 after drugmakers pledged to work together to speed up safety trials in human volunteers.

The World Health Organisation said high risk groups, including frontline health workers in West Africa, are front of the queue to receive the vaccines by early next year.

An estimated 200,000 doses of experimental Ebola vaccines could be available by the middle of 2015 after a meeting of drug officials in Geneva.

The WHO said potential manufacturers have committed to ensuring vaccines are sold at affordable prices.

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'Nightmare scenario' avoided as Nigeria is declared Ebola-free

Nigeria has been declared officially free of Ebola after a 42-day period with no new cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The announcement eases fears that the disease could have spread to one of Africa's most densely-populated areas.

Commuters and traders crowd at a market in Nigeria's largest city Lagos Credit: REUTERS/George Esiri

WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan said on Sunday that the appearance of the virus in Lagos would have been "the worst nightmare scenario anyone could imagine".

She said the nation's innovative polio campaign, which uses satellite technologies to track population, had been re-purposed to aid the fight against Ebola.

Last week, the WHO announced that Senegal was Ebola-free, but the pace of the outbreak continues to quicken in the three worst-hit countries.

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