MSF launches Ebola vaccine study in DR Congo — Anadolu Agency
International humanitarian medical organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has launched a study in the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess whether the Ervebo vaccine can provide protection against the Bundibugyo virus. The program in Ituri and North Kivu provinces will involve 20,000 healthcare workers and frontline workers who face an increased risk of contact with the virus.
As reported by Anadolu Agency, the study was launched at a World Health Organization training center for healthcare workers in Bunia, the administrative center of Ituri province. It will last from nine to 12 months: three months will be allocated to vaccination, while participants will be monitored for at least six months.
Vaccine for the study
Last month, DR Congo authorities began an Ebola vaccination campaign among healthcare workers and frontline workers. The country was allocated 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine from the global stockpile of vaccines against Ebola virus disease for a Phase 3 clinical trial.
Currently, no vaccine or specific treatment against the Bundibugyo virus has been approved. Ervebo is licensed and recommended for use during outbreaks of disease caused by the Ebola virus, formerly known as Zaire ebolavirus.
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MSF epidemiologist and deputy director of operations Gaigai Manangama said that Ervebo was initially not developed to protect against the Bundibugyo virus, but preliminary data indicate that it may provide some level of protection.
Scale of the outbreak
According to the latest data from the DR Congo Ministry of Health, 7,541 infections have been confirmed in the current outbreak, of which 3,639 ended in death. The epidemic has affected 62 health zones in seven provinces: Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele, Tshopo, and South Ubangi.
MSF noted that despite a decrease in hospitalizations and a slowdown in virus transmission, cases are emerging and spreading in new, insufficiently prepared areas. The organization also reported that basic response measures have still not been introduced in the primary outbreak hotspots.
