OMM Newsroom
Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have launched a trial of a new Ebola vaccine as they work to contain a rapidly spreading outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday, according to Anadolu Agency.
The first participants in the trial, named Tumaini — meaning “hope” in Swahili — were vaccinated in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri, the WHO’s Africa regional office said.
The WHO described the launch as “a major step in the fight against Ebola disease caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain”, which is spreading rapidly across geographic boundaries.
The trial will assess candidate vaccines against Bundibugyo virus strains among contacts of confirmed cases. No vaccine against this strain has been approved. The strain was first declared in Congo in May.
According to the WHO, the trial is guided by scientific rigor, transparency, ethical principles, informed consent and community engagement.
“This trial will help us understand whether any of the vaccine candidates designed for Bundibugyo virus work,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on “X”, the US social media company.
In August, Congo received 70,000 doses of “Ervebo” from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile for use in the outbreak. The vaccine is approved for use against the Zaire Ebola virus.
The trial is coordinated by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and supported by the WHO, Congo’s Health Ministry and partners.
The latest data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) show that confirmed Ebola cases in Congo since the outbreak began have exceeded 9,700, including more than 4,690 deaths.
The disease has affected eight provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele, Tshopo, South-Ubangi and North Ubangi.
Health officials said the spread to other countries in the region is complicating efforts to contain the outbreak. Kenya has reported nine confirmed cases, including two deaths, while Nigeria confirmed its first case earlier this week, believed to have been imported from Congo.
