Ebola in DR Congo: two new vaccines to be tested amid deadly outbreak

The Ebola outbreak that began in DR Congo in May had caused 5,126 deaths among 10,532 confirmed cases by November 1, according to health authorities, and had spread to eight provinces, mainly in the east. On November 4, the WHO announced that two vaccine candidates targeting the Bundibugyo strain could join a clinical trial already underway, subject to approval by Congolese health authorities. They are ChAdOx1, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and Moderna’s mRNA-1469. No vaccine has yet demonstrated effectiveness in humans against this strain, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccination alone would not end the outbreak.