The World Health Organization (WHO), has announced that three Ebola vaccine candidates for a planned clinical trial are expected to be shipped to Uganda next week.
WHO boss, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the revelation on Wednesday, saying candidates include vaccines under development by the University of Oxford and Serum Institute of India, Sabin Vaccine Institute, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N).
The news comes a month after Uganda’s Health Minister, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, said that the government would be evaluating three candidate vaccines for the treatment of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (SUDV).
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He added that the global health agency’s committee of external experts has evaluated and agreed to include all three vaccine candidates in the planned trial.
The virus circulating in Uganda is the Sudan strain of Ebola, for which there is no proven vaccine, unlike the more common Zaire strain that spread during recent outbreaks in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tedros added that the expert committee had selected two investigational therapeutics for Ebola and a planned trial design, which was being submitted for approval.
On 20 September 2022, Uganda declared an Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Sudan ebolavirus species, after the confirmation of a case in Mubende district in the central part of the country. Uganda last reported an outbreak of Sudan ebolavirus in 2012. In 2019, the country experienced an outbreak of Zaire ebolavirus.
In the past week, the district of Jinja reported its 1st case, becoming the 9th district to be affected.
