The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended including two new Ebola vaccines in clinical trials underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is experiencing a large-scale and deadly outbreak.
A distinctive feature of the current epidemic is the rare strain causing the disease. There are currently no vaccines or specific treatments available worldwide for this subtype, so the new candidates will be tested directly in field conditions. They include a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with India's Serum Institute, and a vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna, Euronews reports. The trials will involve people who have been in contact with patients with confirmed infections. In parallel, the WHO is supporting research into new treatments for people who have already contracted the disease.
Earlier reports indicated that since the detection of the latest outbreak in the DRC, more than 5,000 deaths have been confirmed, while the number of infections has exceeded 11,000. Isolated cases have also been reported in Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, although health authorities have managed to bring the situation under control in those countries.
In response to the outbreak, several countries, including Ghana and the United States, have imposed restrictions on travelers arriving from the DRC. The WHO has strongly condemned these measures.
"We urge countries that have imposed travel restrictions to lift them. Such restrictions punish countries for doing the right thing, create incentives to conceal information, and undermine the response to the outbreak," the head of the organization said.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) share this position. Since the beginning of the epidemic, they have maintained that travel restrictions should not be used as the primary tool for protecting public health.
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