The Democratic Republic of the Congo has started a trial of vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no approved vaccine, Premium Times reports, citing the World Health Organization.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the first participants were vaccinated in Bunia, in the east of the country, on 23 October. The Phase II/III trial, called Tumaini, Swahili for hope, will test whether Ervebo, licensed against the Zaire strain, also protects against Bundibugyo, alongside candidates from Moderna and from the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India.
It will use ring vaccination, targeting contacts of confirmed cases and others at high risk. As of 21 October, 9,552 cases and 4,602 deaths had been confirmed in the DRC, the largest Bundibugyo outbreak on record.
Source: Premium Times
