Experimental Ebola Vaccine in Congo
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the start of the first clinical trial for the Tmniye Ebola vaccine in Congo to confront the outbreak.
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the start of the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine to address the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking on the X platform, in a post relayed by the Agence France-Presse today, Ghebreyesus said: “Science gives us hope. Today, in Bunia, Congo, the first participants received a vaccine in a new Ebola trial called ‘Tumaini,’ which means ‘hope’ in Swahili.”
This is the worst outbreak in Congo’s history, with more than 9,700 cases and over 4,600 deaths.
Ghebreyesus noted that “this trial will help us understand whether any of the candidate vaccines designed to combat the Bundibugyo virus are effective,” adding that the existing Ervebo vaccine would also be tested alongside it.
Ervebo, approved for use against the more widespread Zaire strain of Ebola, will undergo a large-scale clinical trial in Congo to determine whether it provides cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
