Congo to Receive 70,000 Ebola Vaccine Doses as Outbreak Becomes Deadliest on Record
WHO allocates 70,000 Ervebo vaccine doses as Congo battles its largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.
- Congo to receive 70,000 Ebola vaccine doses
- Over 5,000 confirmed cases recorded
- Death toll rises to 2,378
The Democratic Republic of Congo is set to receive 70,000 doses of Merck’s Ervebo Ebola vaccine as health authorities intensify efforts to contain the country’s largest recorded Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.
The allocation follows a request from the Congolese government for doses from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile managed by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision.
Of the 70,000 doses, 20,000 will be used in a late-stage clinical trial to determine whether Ervebo can protect against the Bundibugyo strain currently driving the outbreak.
Ervebo is approved for the Zaire ebolavirus strain, but there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment specifically targeting Bundibugyo Ebola.
According to the WHO, it remains uncertain whether Ervebo can provide protection against the Bundibugyo strain, making the planned trial crucial.
Government figures indicate that Congo has recorded more than 5,000 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths, making the current outbreak the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the country’s history.
The outbreak, Congo’s 17th, became the country’s largest on record in late July as infections continued to spread despite containment measures.
Health authorities are relying on surveillance, isolation, contact tracing and vaccination to curb transmission while researchers assess the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the Bundibugyo strain.
