WHO approves two Ebola vaccine trials in DRC
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch and 7info
The WHO recommends adding two vaccine candidates against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola to clinical trials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Punch and 7info. The vaccines, developed by Oxford with the Serum Institute of India and by Moderna, will be tested under the leadership of the National Institute of Biomedical Research, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended on Wednesday 4 November that two experimental vaccines be added to the clinical trial being conducted against the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna’s mRNA-1469, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced, according to Punch.
The trial is being conducted by the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research with the support of the WHO and other partners. A first trial using the Ervebo vaccine began last month, but the vaccine is authorised against the Ebola virus but not against the Bundibugyo strain, according to Tedros, quoted by Punch.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have recorded more than 5,300 deaths and 10,444 confirmed cases in the ongoing African outbreak, with a case fatality rate of more than 50%. The vast majority of the deaths occurred in the DRC, the agency said on Monday, according to Punch.
Nigeria confirmed an imported case of Bundibugyo virus on 20 October in a woman who arrived from Uganda. As of 3 November, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had recorded one confirmed case, no deaths, 62 identified contacts and 57 people in quarantine, reports Punch. The WHO recommendation came after the Ervebo trial began in the DRC on 24 October and the first Tumaini vaccinations were administered to four people on 27 October.
