The World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the Democratic Republic of Congo-led research effort, with the first participant receiving the Ervebo vaccine on Friday, October 23, in Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the development, describing the research programme as Tumaini, a Swahili word meaning “hope.” He said the study would help researchers determine whether the vaccines being investigated could protect people against the Bundibugyo virus.

According to the WHO, the outbreak had reached 9,704 confirmed cases and 4,687 deaths across eight provinces by October 20. The figures highlight the scale of the health emergency and the urgency of finding effective preventive measures.

Two additional vaccine candidates are expected to join the trial after undergoing earlier development stages. One is being developed by the University of Oxford using an adenoviral vector approach, while the other is being developed by US biotechnology company Moderna using messenger RNA technology.

The Tumaini programme is designed to assess multiple vaccine candidates within one clinical trial framework, potentially speeding up the search for effective protection against the virus.

However, researchers will need to establish the safety and effectiveness of each candidate before determining whether it can be used to protect people against the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current outbreak.

Source: Channels Television / AFP