WHO says 6 contacts of Ugandan Ebola patient are ill, vaccination efforts could begin Sunday Agency steps in to fund response needs hit by U.S. aid freeze, a top official says

https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/uganda-ebola-outbreak-contacts-infected-patient-ill-who-vaccinations-to-begin/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--VwO0D1VBncYnFzMyz2AwMOBMTtReJa2YK5P32xNSyPWTNoI6_yjxbSOpMlrAmeuCbveii7RYQlb-8Bdv6c2nluMkIcA&_hsmi=345537901&utm_content=345537901&utm_source=hs_email A new Ebola Sudan vaccine trial is underway In more vaccine news: A clinical trial designed to test whether an experimental Ebola Sudan vaccine actually works got underway in Uganda on Monday, with the WHO helping the Ugandan government to design and operate the study. The vaccine, made using the same platform as Merck’s Ebola Zaire vaccine, Ervebo, is being developed by the nonprofit group IAVI. Running clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics for rare diseases like Ebola Sudan is incredibly challenging. Years sometimes elapse between outbreaks, which can occur across several different countries. Having doses of vaccine available to test and a country willing to run a trial is not a given. And sometimes approvals come too slowly. An effort to test several Ebola Sudan vaccines in Uganda in 2022 was abandoned because the outbreak was contained before the trial could be done. This time, years of planning to persuade countries to conduct these trials is paying off. The trial began three days after the outbreak was first announced. Contacts of the man who died from the disease, and their contacts will be vaccinated in what’s called a ring vaccination trial. Contacts are being randomly assigned to get immediate vaccination, or after a delay. Comparing the two groups could show if the vaccine cuts the risk of infection. — Helen Branswell