Kampala, Feb 1
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated 2,160 doses of Ebola trial vaccine to Uganda to evaluate its efficacy in combating the virus, which in a recent outbreak, has killed a health worker in Kampala, the country's capital.
WHO is working with Uganda's Ministry of Health, the Makerere University Lung Institute and the Ugandan Virus Research Institute, as well as worldwide filovirus and trial experts and regulators to initiate the trials, according to a statement posted on the website of the WHO.
Uganda's Ministry of Health on Thursday declared an Ebola outbreak after a 32-year-old male nurse working at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala succumbed to Sudan Ebola virus disease (SVD), marking the eighth outbreak of the deadly disease in the east African country.
"The aim of the vaccine trial is to evaluate a potentially efficacious candidate vaccine, and if efficacious, to possibly contribute to ending the ongoing outbreak and protect populations at risk in the future," said WHO. "Those eligible to join the trial are those at highest risk of SVD, like close contacts of a person who has been confirmed to have had SVD or who has died from the disease. The study sites will therefore be the locations where contacts of the case or cases reside."
There are no approved treatments or vaccines for Sudan virus, but early initiation of supportive treatment has been shown to significantly reduce deaths from Sudan virus disease, according to WHO.
Uganda's previous SVD outbreak started in September 2022 and ended in January 2023, with 164 cases and 77 deaths in the country.
During that outbreak, a WHO committee of external experts evaluated candidate vaccines and provided recommendations on their suitability for evaluation in Uganda, as part of a clinical trial against the SVD virus, news agency reported.
"The vaccine trial processes underway include orientation of the research teams on the trial procedures, and logistics arrangements. Research teams have been deployed to the field to work along with the surveillance teams as approvals are awaited," said WHO in the statement.
According to WHO, case fatality rates of Sudan virus disease have varied from 41 per cent to 100 per cent in past outbreaks.