The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a dedicated clinical trial for vaccines targeting the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) is developing a platform to test vaccines against this strain, including an existing vaccine developed for the Zaire strain.

Following its biannual meeting held last week, SAGE said the Tumaini platform will enable a randomised clinical trial covering vaccines currently in development against the Bundibugyo strain, as well as the already-available vaccine for the Zaire strain of Ebola.

The independent experts within SAGE also concluded that findings from immunogenicity studies show that the existing Zaire-strain vaccine does not yet provide sufficient evidence to assess the level of clinical protection it may confer against Bundibugyo.

At a press conference, the SAGE chair stressed that two vaccines are already at an advanced stage of clinical trials and warned that regulatory authorities must be prepared to avoid delays in deployment once approvals are granted. One of the vaccines is being developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India, while the other is from pharmaceutical company Moderna, using messenger RNA technology — the same platform used in Covid-19 vaccines.

"SAGE is very concerned about the Bundibugyo virus outbreak and the high number of deaths among children," said Anthony Scott, adding that insecurity and population displacement in the DRC continue to hamper access to care, disrupt surveillance, and delay the research needed to bring the outbreak under control.

The death toll from the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reached 4,381, with more than 9,000 cases recorded, according to data released by Congolese authorities. The latest report published by the Congolese Ministry of Health, based on data collected up to 12 October, records 9,066 confirmed infections and a case fatality rate of 48.3%.

In addition, 2,389 patients have recovered from the disease and a further 895 are hospitalised or in isolation, while the contact tracing rate stands at 79.5%. The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected people or animals and causes severe haemorrhagic fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and internal bleeding.