Ebola vaccine trial begins in DR Congo outbreak

The first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began on Friday, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Tedros said the first participants were vaccinated in Bunia in a new trial called Tumaini, which means "hope" in Swahili. He said the DRC-led effort is supported by the WHO.

The outbreak is driven by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. The DR Congo outbreak has passed 9,700 cases, with more than 4,600 deaths.

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo species. Ervebo, a vaccine approved for the more common Zaire strain of Ebola, will be tested in a full-scale human trial to see whether it offers cross-protection against Bundibugyo.

The Tumaini trial is a single framework designed to test the safety and efficacy of multiple vaccines. It is expected eventually to include two Bundibugyo-specific candidate vaccines: a ChAdOx1 adenoviral vector vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and an mRNA vaccine from Moderna.