Following the confirmation of an Ebola outbreak in Uganda, the nation has begun its first-ever vaccine trial after one person died and 40 contacts were placed under surveillance.
It was reported by New Daily Prime that a 34-year-old nurse died from the Sudan species of the virus last week.
The virus was detected on January 30.
The vaccine, donated by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a global non-profit organization, was administered to isolated individuals on Monday.
Working tirelessly for four-day, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, principal investigators from Makerere University and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) made the vaccine available for trials to assess its efficacy.
Although there are no approved drugs for the Sudan species of the virus currently, a vaccine for the Zaïre species was previously used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Describing the achievement in combating the outbreak, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus commended health workers in Uganda and other partners for their efforts in making the trial vaccine available.
“The speed was achieved through advanced research preparedness while ensuring full compliance with national and international regulatory and ethical requirements,” the statement noted.
Uganda is experiencing its sixth outbreak since the first one in 2000.
Meanwhile, 40 contacts of the initial victims will be vaccinated in the first phase of the rollout.
About 234 contacts have been listed for monitoring by Uganda’s health ministry. Over the weekend, the first dose of the vaccine arrived in Kampala on Monday after training was completed.
“If the candidate vaccine is effective, it can contribute to controlling this outbreak and generate data for vaccine licensure,” the document stated.
Ebola is a deadly disease transmitted through contact with an infected person such as vomit, feces, blood, and other body fluids. It has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days, followed by severe symptoms.