The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), where the outbreak has killed more than 4,600 people.
The trial began on Friday in Bunia as health authorities battle the country’s worst-ever Ebola outbreak, which has recorded more than 9,700 cases, Naija News reports.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, which currently has no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the development in a post on 𝕏, describing the trial as a step toward protecting people from the deadly disease.
“Science gives us hope. Today, in Bunia, DRC, the first participants were vaccinated in a new Ebola vaccine trial called Tumaini, which means ‘hope’ in Swahili,” he said.
The trial, known as Tumaini, will initially test Ervebo, a vaccine already approved for protection against the Zaire strain of Ebola, to determine whether it can also offer protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
Tedros said the trial would help researchers determine whether available vaccine candidates could protect people against the strain responsible for the current outbreak.
“WHO is supporting this DRC-led effort to find answers and save lives,” he added.
The trial is designed to allow researchers to assess the safety and effectiveness of different vaccines under a single programme.
Two other vaccine candidates developed specifically for the Bundibugyo strain are also expected to be included as they progress through earlier stages of clinical testing.
One is an experimental vaccine using adenoviral vector technology, being developed by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
The other is being developed by US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna and uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, Naija News reports.
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