A mum-of-two from Oxfordshire today became the first person in the world to be injected with an Ebola gene as part of the battle against the deadly virus.

Ruth Atkins was the first of 60 people who will be given a trial vaccine for the virus in the coming weeks at the Churchill Hospital’s Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine in Oxford.

The latest epidemic has killed more than 2,500 people so far, prompting a “health crisis unparallelled in modern times", according to the United Nations.

There is currently no known cure for the virus.

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Ms Atkins, 48, from Marcham, near Abingdon, signed up for pioneering trials to combat the disease, after reading about them in the Oxford Mail in August.

She said: "I have been following what has been on the news about Ebola and they have to start somewhere with the vaccine.

"If I can be a part of that it is a good thing.

Chief investigator for the trial, Prof Adrian Hill, said if the trials go well the vaccine could be in Africa within three months.

To get involved, email vaccinetrials@ndm.ox.ac.uk

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