Uganda has begun a clinical trial for a vaccine targeting the Sudan strain of Ebola, just days after an outbreak claimed the life of a nurse in the capital, Kampala.
The trial focuses on health workers and individuals exposed to the virus, with two additional cases confirmed in relatives of the first victim. This marks Uganda’s sixth encounter with the Sudan strain, for which no approved vaccine currently exists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) lauded the rapid response, with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stating on X: “This vaccination trial was initiated with record speed.”
The trial leverages a system developed during Uganda’s 2022 outbreak, enabling swift deployment of doses in a “ring” vaccination strategy. This approach prioritizes vaccinating contacts of confirmed patients and their close associates to contain the spread.
The Sudan strain is one of six Ebola species, with only one currently having licensed vaccines. The deadliest Ebola epidemic, which occurred in West Africa between 2013 and 2016, claimed over 11,300 lives, underscoring the critical importance of this trial in global health efforts.
The WHO said the first ring defined Monday involved 40 direct contacts, and contacts of contacts of the health worker who died.
Human-to-human transmission of Ebola happens through body fluids, with the main symptoms being fever, vomiting, bleeding and diarrhoea.
Of eight previous outbreaks of the Sudan Ebola virus, five were in Uganda and three in Sudan.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has had more than a dozen Ebola epidemics, the deadliest killing 2,280 people in 2020.
