Ebola vaccines arrive in Uganda, as Kenya tightens border control

The first 2,160 doses of the ebola vaccine have arrived in Kampala as part of outbreak preparedness.

Uganda’s Health Ministry on Thursday declared an outbreak after a 32-year-old male nurse working at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala succumbed to the Sudan ebolavirus Wednesday.

The World Health Organization said the vaccine will be given to people in Uganda as part of a trial to test its efficacy.

“The candidate vaccine and the candidate treatments are being made available through clinical trial protocols, which will make it possible to further document their efficacy and safety,” WHO said in a statement.

Those eligible to join the trial are those at highest risk of ebola, such as close contacts of a person who has been confirmed to have had the virus or who has died from the disease.

The study sites will therefore be the locations where contacts of the case or cases reside. Study teams will be mobile and able to rapidly move to these areas to do their work using the ring vaccination approach.

“WHO is working with the Ministry of Health and with Makerere University Lung Institute and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, who will lead the trials’ implementation,” the organisation said.

While outbreaks are containable without vaccines, control can be achieved more quickly using safe and effective vaccines.

“WHO has allocated $1 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies to help accelerate outbreak control efforts.”

Sudan virus disease is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates, that is due to Orthoebolavirus sudanense (Sudan virus), a viral species belonging to the same genus of the virus causing ebola disease.

Case fatality rates have varied from 41 per cent to 100 per cent in past outbreaks. There are no approved treatments or vaccines for Sudan virus, but early initiation of supportive treatment has been shown to significantly reduce deaths.

While Kenya has never reported an Ebola outbreak, it remains on edge because of the movement of people between the two countries.

Uganda has experienced five previous outbreaks. The last one was declared in September 2022 and ended in January 2023, with 164 cases and 77 deaths.

On Friday, Kenya’s Ministry of Health reiterated that it has “heightened surveillance across all counties and border points”.

“Consequently, a rapid assessment of the country’s capacity to respond to a similar outbreak is underway, shortly after which a comprehensive plan will be developed to guide countrywide preparedness and response activities for Ebola,” Health PS Mary Muthoni said.