EU sends experts to Congo as Ebola outbreak continues; Congo receives vaccines for clinical trials

Two European epidemiologists are going to the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the meantime, clinical trials of the Ervebo vaccine kick off. Two European epidemiologists are heading to the epicentre of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is sending two experts “to reinforce surveillance and overall outbreak response,” the EU agency’s chief, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, said in a press release on Monday. The Centre has been providing direct support since the current outbreak began, with experts deployed since May to support the Africa CDC. In June, the Centre led an assessment of exit screening at airports in the DRC and Uganda, while experts have also been deployed to South Sudan. The latest health authority data indicates more than 7,600 confirmed cases of infection, including over 3,670 deaths, with nearly eight in 10 infections recorded in Ituri. The outbreak “has already cost so many lives,” Rendi-Wagner said. The ECDC says the risk to Europeans remains very low. The virus spreads between humans through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people. It can also be transmitted by contact with bedding or clothing contaminated with these fluids. While “sporadic importations” to the European Union could occur, “multiple independent importations are unlikely even in a pessimistic scenario in which the number of cases continue to rise in the affected regions,” the agency said. Clinical trials to kick off On the same day, the World Health Organisation announced that a research vaccination programme for the Ervebo vaccine — the only licensed Ebola vaccine — has begun in Ituri for health workers and other frontline personnel at increased risk of exposure. 20,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine have been allocated to study whether the vaccine protects against the Bundibugyo virus, which is causing the current outbreak and has no licensed vaccine or treatment. That's part of the total of 70,000 doses that have been made available to the Congolese authorities to support the outbreak response and related research. The vaccine was “highly effective” against Ebola Zaire virus in the past, but it is not yet known whether it can provide “meaningful protection” against Ebola Bundibugyo disease, which is still spreading in the DRC, the United Nations said in a press release.