New Ebola vaccine trials begin in Uganda as DR Congo battles Bundibugyo outbreak

A candidate vaccine against the Bundibugyo Ebola virus has entered a new phase of clinical trials in Uganda, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday, as efforts accelerate to develop vaccines against the strain driving the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Wessam Mankoula, an Africa CDC official, said at an online press briefing that Phase Ib trials of the University of Oxford’s ChAdOx1 BDBV vaccine began in Uganda on 6 October, after Phase Ia trials launched in Britain in July, according to Xinhua.

Moderna’s candidate received ethical approval for Phase Ib trials in Uganda on 7 October, after its Phase Ia trials began in Canada in early August.

The ongoing DRC outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo Ebola virus, for which no specifically approved vaccine or treatment exists. DRC has received 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, which is approved for use against the Zaire Ebola virus but has not been proven effective against Bundibugyo. Under a protocol-governed compassionate-use programme, 7,775 healthcare and other frontline workers had been vaccinated as of 7 October, while 848 more received the vaccine under a separate research protocol known as BRAVO — although vaccination under it has been suspended due to supply shortages.

DRC health authorities said the outbreak had recorded 8,728 confirmed cases and 4,205 deaths as of 6 October — a case fatality rate of 48.2 per cent — with 2,269 patients recovered.