Deadliest Ebola outbreak in Congo gets 70k Merck vaccine boost

Unicef staff and airport workers receive an aircraft carrying medical supplies as authorities and aid agencies intensify efforts to contain a new Ebola outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain at Bunia National Airport in Bunia, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Image credit: Reuters/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere/File Photo

Reuters reports that according to WHO, Congo requested last week that Ervebo vaccines be released from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile, which is managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) — a partnership between the WHO, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières and Unicef — on Vaccine Provision.

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The health agency said the group allocated 70,000 Ervebo doses for Congo, with 20,000 shots to be used in a late-stage trial to assess the vaccine’s impact on the Bundibugyo virus.

Geneva-based global vaccine alliance Gavi said it would provide $7m to fund the shipment to Congo, as well as another $6m to support vaccination efforts in high-risk areas.

The ongoing outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has no approved vaccines or treatments.

WHO said, “It is not known whether Ervebo may be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans,” stressing the importance of clinical trials to provide new evidence.

Ervebo is approved to prevent disease caused by the more common Zaire ebolavirus strain.

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Government data from the DRC places the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country at more than 5,000.

Congo’s 17th Ebola epidemic became the country’s biggest on record in late July by case count, and the death toll now stands at 2,378, surpassing the previous worst outbreak in 2018 to 2020.

Earlier this week, WHO’s director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus said that the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo remains a global emergency.

Ebola spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, living or dead. It can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal and external bleeding.