The Democratic Republic of the Congo has received the first batch of 16,520 doses of the Ervebo vaccine to help control the spread of the Ebola virus. Health authorities said more than 50,000 additional doses were expected to arrive by Monday.
Speaking to journalists in Kinshasa, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said the vaccines would strengthen the government’s response to Ebola and help protect communities.
70,000 doses allocated from vaccine stockpile
The World Health Organization announced that 70,000 doses would be sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile. Some of the vaccines will be used to protect health and field workers responding to the outbreak, while others will be used in a Phase 3 clinical trial aimed at better understanding the effects of the vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus.
No vaccine or specific treatment against the Bundibugyo virus has been approved to date. Ervebo, meanwhile, is a licensed and recommended vaccine for use in outbreaks of the disease caused by the Ebola virus, previously known as Zaire ebolavirus.
Outbreak affects 56 health zones in six provinces
According to the Health Ministry’s latest update, the number of confirmed infections in the current Ebola outbreak has reached 5,290. More than 2,500 people have died from the outbreak.
The outbreak has affected 56 health zones in six provinces since it was declared in mid-May. The affected provinces are Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Bas-Uele and Tshopo.
Call to strengthen field support
Doctors Without Borders said communities in the Congo were not receiving sufficient support to control Ebola. The organization said training for health workers and community leaders in the affected areas needed to be urgently strengthened.
The training was expected to cover case detection, referral of patients to appropriate centers, infection prevention and control measures.
Maria Nica / Editor
