Shares of companies testing Ebola vaccines rise

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of companies that are studying potential vaccines for Ebola are climbing in aftermarket trading after federal officials announced that the first case of the disease has been diagnosed in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control says a patient being treated at a hospital in Dallas tested positive for the disease.

Ebola is believed to have sickened more than 6,500 people in West Africa, and more than 3,000 people have died. Symptoms can start as much as 21 days after exposure, and the disease isn’t contagious until symptoms begin. It takes close contact with bodily fluids to spread.

The World Health Organization has worked to speed up the use of some experimental vaccines and companies are ramping up testing.