Uganda to deploy Ebola vaccine if virus spreads from Congo

DAKAR (Reuters) – Uganda will vaccinate against the Ebola virus as it spreads from Democratic Republic of Congo, hit twice this year, said Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO). ).

Uganda borders on Ituri and North Kivu provinces in the Congo, where it is estimated that Ebola has killed 97 people since the start of the last epidemic in July and has infected 45 others.

A death due to Ebola was recorded this month in the Congolese town of Butembo, which is a hub for Congolese exports and imports of minerals from East African ports via # 39; Uganda.

In a statement released Thursday, the WHO said it was helping Uganda, which had not been affected by the Ebola virus so far this year, implement the ring vaccination strategy used in the Congo. .

As part of this strategy, each contact of an Ebola case, including health workers and family members, is identified and vaccinated.

"The possibility of vaccinating front-line health workers and ring vaccination to contain the disease (…) should never be missed. That's why we are making all these expensive but necessary preparations, "said the WHO representative in Uganda, Yonas Tegegn Woldermariam, in the statement.

Uganda has identified spaces to store the vaccine and equipment installed to ensure that it can be transported throughout the country.

Uganda has had five epidemics since 2000, the last in 2017. The contagious disease causes hemorrhagic fever, vomiting and diarrhea. In 2013-2016, the Ebola virus killed 11,300 people in West Africa, but treatment during this epidemic was less advanced.

The experimental vaccine, manufactured by Merck, was deployed for the first time in Congo this year. It is designed to target the Zairian strain of the virus, which has been found to have caused the current epidemic in Congo.