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Scientists in a Germantown laboratory are working to develop a vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus, a disease that has killed a reported 1,200 people mainly in African nations.

Integrated BioTherapeutics Inc., which is headquartered on Seneca Meadows Parkway, recently received a multi-million-dollar contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Integrated's co-founder and chief scientific officer, Javad Aman, of Gaithersburg, says Ebola and Marburg, a related, often lethal virus, could begin to recede as threats to humans in about 10 years, when he hopes the vaccine will become widely available. Ebola and Marburg are both found most commonly in sub-Saharan Africa.

"This is really important for public health and national security," Aman, 50, said. "We feel very passionate about our work, no doubt about it."

Integrated's 11 employees also work on bacterial agents that cause staph infections.

Aman worked on developing an Ebola vaccine for seven years at the Army Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick. He and another colleague opened the company in 2007.

Work now includes testing the vaccine and preparing it for manufacture and distribution, he said. The contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases calls for the company to receive an initial $22 million with the $43 million to be paid upon successful completion of later phases of the project. 

Aman's pride in what he considers a breakthrough discovery is evident as he talks about the vaccine. The rewards will be great once the elaborate clinical trials and government approval process is complete, he said.

Kelly L. Warfield, 32, a native of Brunswick who still lives in the area, co-founded the company with Aman after working with him at Fort Detrick, said she was also excited about her work.

"When you're a scientist, this is what you really want to do, something that benefits all mankind," she said.

A World Health Organization (WHO) fact sheet on the Ebola virus lists careless handling of infected monkeys by humans and accidents in biotechnology laboratories as the main threats posed by the disease to people in developed countries, although they are also seen as potential bioterror agents. But most of the 1,850 reported cases and 1,200 deaths recorded since Ebola's discovery in 1976 have come among Africans  in mid-continent nations, according to WHO's fact sheet, which covers cases through 2005.

The disease kills 30 percent to 90 percent of humans infected by it, preceded by symptoms that include the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, according to the WHO fact sheet. Patients with advanced cases suffer vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding, according to the WHO.

Scientists and technicians in one of the company's laboratories on Seneca Meadows Parkway appeared relaxed as they worked last month. Aman and Warfield said the employees don't face any risk from the virus.

Experiments using the virus are conducted only at Fort Detrick, they said. Work at the Germantown laboratory includes testing the vaccine on mice that have not been infected. Aman said the effectiveness of the vaccine is checked by examining how the immune systems of animals are reacting after they have received the vaccine.

Warfield said two Russian scientists accidently infected themselves on two separate occasions a few years ago and died from the virus. Another scientist, at Fort Detrick, was unharmed in 2004 after an accidental needle prick from a syringe containing the virus, she said.

Warfield said she was never afraid during the six years she spent at Fort Detrick, a period that included seeing animals that had been infected by Ebola during experiments.

"I have a family of four children," she said. "You just have to be aware of the dangers you're taking or you shouldn't be working there."