U.S. health experts say the Ebola outbreak is unlikely to be eradicated unless a vaccine or another drug treatment is developed. While the emphasis has been on halting the spread of Ebola by rapidly scaling up public health care facilities, experts said efforts are unlikely to keep pace with the disease. CCTV America’s Daniel Ryntjes reports.

The U.S. Defense Department has set aside $1 billion to set up 17 field hospitals and public health care facilities with a special emphasis on Liberia. The U.S. military also plans to train up to 500 locals a week for treatment units.

“It will be very difficult to entirely stop all transmission, given how widespread it is. That has raised the possibility in many people’s minds that the only way to truly extinguish this epidemic for good will be the use of a vaccine of an effective treatment, or both,” said Josh Michaud, the associate director for global health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The experimental serum ZMapp, used to treat medical missionary Kent Brantly, is among several treatments focused on introducing antibodies into an infected Ebola patient. Only 10 doses of ZMapp were available, and it may take months to produce enough to conduct initial trials.

Meanwhile, a promising vaccine has been developed by the U.S. government and is being manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Initial safety tests are being conducted by the United States and a British consortium. They are speeding up the trial process, which can take months, or even years.

The role of medical research may ultimately prove critical to stopping the spread of the deadly virus in an area of the world where public health infrastructure simply can’t keep up.

For a detailed look at the drug advancements made in treating Ebola, author of Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus David Quammen (Follow @DavidQuammen) joined CCTV America.