Ebola vaccine being tested in DR Congo outbreak zone

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Health workers in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo badly hit by a deadly Ebola outbreak launched a test vaccination program Saturday to see whether vaccines designed for a different strain of the virus could prove effective in this case.

The operation, backed by the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), will see 20,000 frontline health personnel given the Ervebo vaccine in Ituri and North Kivu provinces in a study lasting up to a year.

The current Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 3,639 people out of 7,541 confirmed cases, according to the latest figures from the country's authorities. That is a fatality rate of 48.3%.

It is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment.

The vaccine being rolled out this weekend was developed for use against the Zaire strain, and the study will determine how effective it might be against the Bundibugyo strain.

"We don't know to what degree it might be effective against the Bundibugyo strain," said Steve Ahuka, a Congolese official who is part of the health task force against the Ebola outbreak.

"It might offer a certain level of cross-protection against the Bundibugyo virus," said Nana Mimbu, an MSF research coordinator.

While WHO officials have cited "encouraging signs" that transmission may be slowing, MSF warned Friday that there was no clear evidence that the epidemic was coming under control.

WHO experts have said that early data on the Ervebo vaccine, notably from animal trials, suggested it could offer some protection in the current outbreak.

The U.N. health agency said last month that 70,000 doses of the vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical company Merck and produced in Germany, were to be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

AFP journalists Saturday saw health workers in Bunia, the main city of Ituri province, receiving vaccinations.

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