Overview
- Health authorities started vaccinating health and response workers in Bunia and nearby Mongbwalu, with the campaign focused on the outbreak epicenter.
- The drive uses Ervebo under a compassionate-use programme and plans to cover about 20,000 frontline staff in Ituri and North Kivu over six to nine months.
- A 20,000-person clinical trial will monitor recipients for up to a year to determine whether Ervebo, licensed for the Zaire Ebola strain, offers protection against the current Bundibugyo virus.
- Government figures place the outbreak at roughly 7,541 confirmed cases and 3,639 deaths, and responders say insecurity, displacement, unpaid staff and funding gaps are hampering control efforts.
- If the vaccine provides any cross-protection, it could help shield scarce health workers and slow transmission, but trial results and sustained funding and security are needed before wider use can be planned.