Uganda Launches Largest Ebola Experimental Vaccine Trial

Ugandan researchers are launching the largest ever trial of an experimental Ebola vaccine to be deployed in neighboring Congo, where a deadly epidemic has killed more than 1,800 people.

The Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine trial involves up to 800 people and is supported by Doctors Without Borders and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Pontiano Kaleebu, a Ugandan researcher who runs the trial, said Friday that he regretted that the Janssen vaccine has not yet been rolled out in Congo. The health minister who resigned last month pleaded against his deployment, saying that a second vaccine could create confusion on the ground.

In the Congo, already more than 180,000 people affected by the one-year-old outbreak have received an experimental but effective Merck vaccine, but health experts are worried about the availability of doses because the virus is spreading now in a major city, Goma, along the Rwandan border. The woman and the one year old daughter of the man who died of Ebola this week in Goma now have the disease.

The Janssen vaccine has already been tested on about 6,000 people, mostly Africans, Kaleebu said. "We are excited about this test … because it is one of the most promising vaccines," he said. "It's one of those vaccines that have shown a lot of potential in animal studies but also in other tests conducted."

Ugandan researchers said the new trial is expected to last two years and will determine the duration of protection against Ebola. Juliet Mwanga, co-investigator of the trial, said it was necessary "to study many vaccines" in light of the Congo epidemic.

Health experts were appalled by the fact that the promises of the Merck vaccine in this epidemic were largely overshadowed by the severe difficulties in containing the virus, including rebel attacks and community resistance in a region of Congo. who had never been affected by the Ebola virus.

Uganda has had several outbreaks of Ebola in the past. While currently free from the virus, three people who took an unguarded path to the country in June died before their family members were brought back to Congo for treatment.

The Ebola virus can spread quickly and be fatal in 90% of cases. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches and sometimes internal and external bleeding. The virus is most often transmitted through close contact with the body fluids of people with symptoms and with contaminated objects such as sheets. Health care workers are often at risk.

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