Ebola: clinical trials of vaccines could start soon in Uganda
Clinical trials of Ebola vaccines could begin “in the next weeks” in Uganda, where the virus is still rampant, World Health Organization (WHO) Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday (October 12).
>> Ebola causes one death, the first since 2019
>> Ebola outbreak in Uganda: 17 confirmed dead, according to Kampala
| Health workers treating Ebola patients in Mubende, Uganda, on September 24. |
| Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
“Several vaccines against this virus are in different stages of development, two of them could be used for clinical trials in Uganda in the coming weeks, depending on regulatory and ethical clearances from the Ugandan government.“, said Wednesday, October 12, the head of the WHO during an emergency ministerial meeting against the epidemic.
The human toll amounts to “over 19” according to Jane Ruth Aceng, Uganda’s Minister of Health, who last month recorded her first death from Ebola, a highly contagious virus, since 2019. Health professionals are among the victims.
“Unfortunately, the Ebola vaccines that have been so effective in controlling recent Ebola outbreaks in DR Congo are not effective against the type of Ebola virus that is responsible for the current outbreak in Uganda.“, lamented Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In question: a strain from Sudan.
The director of the WHO, who participated in this meeting from Geneva, counted 54 proven cases and 20 probable, to which must be added 660 contact cases under “active tracking“.
The first case was reported on September 20 in the central district of Mubende. Several infections were then identified in four other regions.
“Our main objective now is to help the government of Uganda quickly control and contain this epidemic, to stop its spread to neighboring districts and countries.“, explained the Dr Tedros to reporters.
The risk of intercountry transmission is “high due to movement between Uganda and other countries“, estimated the WHO.
Uganda, an East African country, has experienced several Ebola outbreaks, including the last one in 2019 which killed at least five people. Often fatal, this virus causing haemorrhagic fevers was discovered in 1976 and is particularly prevalent in the west of the continent.
The worst epidemic in this area, between 2013 and 2016, killed more than 11,300 people.
Last week, the United States decreed stricter screening of travelers from Uganda.
AFP/VNA/CVN