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Ebola Bundibugyo Outbreak Shows Signs of Containment in DRC, Despite Widespread Spread Elsewhere
Developing
In Short: The Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is showing initial signs of containment in Ituri province, though it continues to expand in other areas, according to WHO officials.
The vaccine, approved for the Zaire Ebolavirus strain, is being administered in the context of observational trials to see if it also offers protection against Bundibugyo, for which no vaccine yet exists, said WHO’s Meg Doherty.
In related news, the WHO said it expects a Phase 3 randomized clinical trial of Ebola vaccines to begin in the next couple of weeks, with the first vaccine to be put into the field being Merck’s Ervebo, which targets the Zaire Ebola virus.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, is the second-largest on record, with 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths occurring across seven provinces in northeastern DRC.
What's still developing
- The Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak is showing initial signs of containment in the Ituri province of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo – where it first surfaced in April.
- “Although there are signs of reduced transmission in Ituri, it’s reducing from a high level in the past week alone, around 300 new cases and 160 deaths were reported, accounting for nearly half the national total,” Tedros said.
- “And then after that we will be bringing in sequentially other vaccines that are specific for Bundibugyo and those are the ChAdOx1 and the Moderna vaccines that you’ve heard much about,” Doherty said.
- WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concer n in May.
- “It’s essential that countries finalize negotiations so the Pandemic Agreement can begin the ratification process and enter into force.” See related story here: ‘Critical’ to Complete Pandemic Agreement by UN Meeting in 2026 The deep humanitarian crisis facing DRC continues to confound response to the Ebola outbreak in multiple dimensions, the WHO officials underlined.
- There is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the trajectory of the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the director-general of the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
- In a news conference in Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said disease transmission rates are declining in most of the affected provinces, though he warned there are months of work remaining to get the outbreak under control.
- In this case, the outbreak was only discovered to be underway in mid-May, though investigations suggest it may have started early this year.
Sources
- Health Policy Watchlink