The World Health Organisation (WHO) is in talks with the Government to roll out vaccine trials against the Ebola Sudan virus that Uganda is currently battling.  

“Candidate vaccines are there and engagements with the Government of Uganda to do trials is ongoing. If approval is done, then there will be trials,” Dr Otim Patrick Cossy Ramadan, the regional epidemiologist at the WHO Emergency Hub in Nairobi, Kenya said.

He made the revelation during an online media briefing to journalists from East and central Africa about the recent Ebola outbreak in Uganda.  

The development was on Thursday also confirmed by the Ministry of Health spokesperson, Emmanuel Ainebyona, Uganda’s director of health services, Dr Henry Mwebesa, who was also in Nairobi.  

On September 20, WHO and Uganda’s Ministry of Health announced an outbreak of Sudan ebolavirus in Mubende district.

So far, 10 people, including four health workers have succumbed to the disease. A total of seven recoveries have been registered.

The virus has also spread from Mubende to Kagadi, Kyegegwa, Bunyangabu and Kassanda. 

Dr Otim said vaccine trials in high-risk areas in medical practice were normal and added that even the vaccines that are effective against Ebola Zaire were tested in 2014 during the outbreak in West Africa. 

“Even the one that is effective against Ebola Zaire was brought for trials in West Africa. That is the only way we get to know if the vaccine is effective or not,” he said without divulging the details about the candidate vaccines.

Early this month, WHO said it was in talks with vaccine manufactures and other stakeholders, adding that it was possible to have a vaccine against Ebola Sudan within a month under the prevailing conditions 

Unlike the highly infectious and dangerous Ebola Zaire strain, outbreaks of the Ebola Sudan strain have been few hence presenting less opportunities for medical studies.

In total, there are six Ebola species. The others are Taï Forest virus (Ivory Coast), Reston, Bombali and Bundibugyo. The first virus to be discovered was in Yambuku along River Ebola in 1976 in the Democratic of Congo. The Ebola Zaire is the most dangerous with case fatalities of 60-100%. For Ebola Sudan, the case fatalities are 41-100% 

In another online meeting organised by the Makerere Department of Medicine and the Ministry of Health on Thursday,  Dr Bruce Kirenga, a pulmonology expert and founding director of the Makerere University Lung Institute, revealed that the models that were used to find the COVID-19 vaccines will be very important in the search for the Ebola Sudan virus. 

 The vaccines against Ebola Zaire are Ervebo (Rvsv-ebov) and Zabdeno/Mvabea (Ad26-ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo and Ad3-EBOZ.