We are now in a “proof of concept” phase which will demonstrate that wild apes can be vaccinated safely, economically, and with rigorous assays of vaccination effectiveness. This phase will include screening of adjuvants to enhance immune response to vaccination, safety testing of an Ebola vaccine on captive chimpanzees (without Ebola exposure), development of non-invasive (fecal) assays for estimating immunization rate in the field, a measles vaccination field pilot to fine tune safe vaccine delivery methods and validate field assays, conditional veterinary licensing of an Ebola vaccine with the US Department of Agriculture, modeling of vaccination cost-effectiveness relative to other conservation efforts, and finally, a pilot study in which gorillas will be vaccinated against Ebola using a hypodermic dart. Most of the funding has already been secured for the first phase, which will take place over the next two years.

VaccinApe Phase 2

We have chosen to start with a darted vaccine because it entails fewer technical, safety, and cost problems than a promising alternate method of vaccine delivery, oral baiting. However, darting limits the number of apes that can be vaccinated. Consequently, Phase II will focus on dart vaccination of hundreds of gorillas and chimpanzees that have been habituated to human presence against both Ebola and human respiratory viruses. Habituated apes have disproportionate conservation value because of the revenue and local support generated by ape tourism as well as the international exposure provide by films about ape research and the conservation efforts of researchers. The vaccination program will include epidemiological and demographic studies to quantify immunization rate and population impact. In parallel to the dart vaccination program, field and laboratory work will be used to develop effective oral baiting systems and oral vaccine formulations.

VaccinApe Phase 3

In the third and final phase of the project we will vaccinate large numbers (thousands) of unhabituated apes against Ebola and respiratory viruses with the objective of maintaining the viability of entire ape populations.