Sherry Williams

KHOU-TV, Houston

GALVESTON, Texas — The Ebola virus is one of the deadliest on the planet and the current outbreak is the worst the world has seen since the virus surfaced in the late 1970s.

Ebola causes organ failure and internal, as well as external bleeding. It is contracted by coming in contact with an infected person's bodily fluids.

So what is University of Texas Medical Branch Professor Thomas Geisbert doing with the virus in his Galveston lab?

"We're really trying to improve the vaccines, improve the treatments and really kind of support the efforts in that manner," said Geisbert of the school's Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

His efforts to create an effective vaccine are funded by a $26 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded collaboratively with Profectus BioSciences, Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"We are the only academic university in the country right now that works with Biosafety Level 4 pathogens," Geisbert said.

Security at the hospital is off the charts.

"It's kinda like a box within a box within a box," he said.

Ebola originated in West Africa and has a 90% death rate. A naturalized U.S. citizen working in Africa recently died from the virus. A doctor from Fort Worth and a medical assistant in Liberia are fighting the virus there. Authorities say those U.S. connections have not endangered Americans.

However the CDC is urging medical personnel worldwide, especially those who visit West Africa, to be on alert.

U.S. health experts want awareness about the disease to spread, not fear of catching it. There has never been a case of Ebola in a developed country.

Even though Ebola is deadly, it's also fragile. Disinfectants, soaps and detergents kill it. Presently in a UTMB lab, a Texas doctor and his team are hoping to eliminate it from the Earth.