WHO Launches Ebola Vaccine Clinical Trial in DR Congo
WHO Launches Ebola Vaccine Clinical Trial in DR Congo
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the start of the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine during the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The trial began in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, the epicentre of the outbreak, where participants received the Ervebo vaccine.
The trial will assess whether Ervebo, which is approved against the Zaire strain of Ebola, offers protection against the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current epidemic. The outbreak, declared in May, has reportedly caused more than 9,700 cases and over 4,600 deaths. It has spread to four African countries, marking the widest geographical spread of an Ebola outbreak on the continent to date.
Known as the Tumaini trial, the initiative will use a ring vaccination strategy to immunise people at high risk of infection. Two additional candidate vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain—one developed by the University of Oxford using adenoviral vector technology and another by Moderna using mRNA technology—are expected to join the trial shortly. The study will also include pregnant women and children aged 12 and older to expand evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness in populations often excluded from clinical research.
WHO officials said the trial aims to generate rigorous evidence on whether the vaccines can protect people at risk and help guide the response to the ongoing outbreak.
