Latest news with #EbolaSudan
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Uganda declares end to latest Ebola outbreak
Uganda has declared an end to the country's latest outbreak of Ebola, three months after authorities confirmed cases of the highly infectious and often fatal viral haemorrhagic infection in the capital Kampala. The East African country announced its latest outbreak on January 30 after the death of a male nurse who tested positive for the virus. "Good news! The current Ebola Sudan virus disease outbreak has officially come to an end," the health ministry said in a post on the X platform on Saturday. It added the declaration of the end of the outbreak followed 42 days "without a new case since the last confirmed patient was discharged". GOOD NEWS! The current Ebola Sudan Virus Disease outbreak has officially come to an end. This follows 42 days without a new case since the last confirmed patient was discharged on March 14 2025. Our appreciation to our health workers, partners and communities for their support… — Ministry of Health- Uganda (@MinofHealthUG) April 26, 2025 In the post, the ministry did not give the latest total caseload recorded during the outbreak. In early March when the ministry last reported on the caseload, it said at least ten cases had been recorded with two deaths. Ebola infections are frequent in Uganda which has many tropical forests that are natural reservoirs for the virus. The latest outbreak, caused by the Sudan strain of the virus, was Uganda's ninth since the country recorded its first infection in 2000. Uganda also neighbours the Democratic Republic of Congo which has recorded over a dozen outbreaks, including one in 2018-2020 that killed nearly 2300 people. The outbreak started in Kampala, a crowded city of about four million that is also a crossroads for routes branching out to eastern Congo, Kenya, Rwanda and South Sudan. Although outbreaks have been common, health experts say the country has been able to leverage on its experience battling the disease over the years to bring them under control relatively quickly. Ebola is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting of blood, muscle pains and bleeding.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WHO prioritises IAVI Sudan Ebola vaccine ring trial amid Uganda outbreak
A Sudan Ebola vaccine, provided by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), is being investigated in a Uganda vaccine trial that was launched just four days after the country declared an outbreak. The vaccine is being investigated as part of a ring trial led by the World Health Organization (WHO) at Makerere University Lung Institute in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Evaluation of the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vaccine has been prioritised as part of a global collaborative effort supporting the country's Ebolavirus outbreak. Principal investigators from Makerere University and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), with support from WHO and other partners, including Uganda's Ministry of Health, prepared the randomised trial to begin the first dosing just four days after the outbreak was confirmed on 30 January. Dosing began at the Mulago Referral Hospital in the capital yesterday (3 February) after three vaccination rings were defined. The first ring involves approximately 40 contacts from the first reported and confirmed case, a health worker who died on 29 January. The efficacy of ring trials was established in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which evaluated trials of MSD's rVSV vaccine Ervebo that was investigated in the Zaire Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. IAVI president Dr Mark Feinberg said: 'We believe this clinical trial represents an important step toward evaluating the potential of IAVI's vaccine to protect exposed individuals from Ebola Sudan infection, as well as demonstrating its value as a safe, effective, and accessible new tool to include in comprehensive outbreak responses in the future. "Critically, having vaccine doses readily available in the country made it possible for us all to mobilise in just days and to be able to incorporate the evaluation of a promising Ebola Sudan vaccine clinical trial into the public health response very soon after the first reports of the current outbreak.' This will be the first trial to assess the clinical efficacy of a vaccine against Ebola disease due to the Sudan virus. In 2023, IAVI initiated a Phase I trial (NCT05724472) which determined the rVSV Ebola Sudan vaccine was well tolerated with immune responses detected in all groups. This data was shared in November 2024 during the annual meeting American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. IAVI is also investigating the rVSV platform technology elsewhere in its portfolio, including a Lassa virus vaccine candidate currently in Phase II trials in West Africa. Evaluation of IAVI's Ebola Sudan vaccine was already prepositioned in the country, however, the recent outbreak has seen the WHO sign an agreement for IAVI to provide more doses of the shot. The most recent Ebola outbreak is the sixth the country has faced, the last being in 2022. The virus causes severe haemorrhagic fever disease and holds a fatality rate of between 41% and 70%. Although several promising candidate medical countermeasures are progressing through clinical development, there are no vaccines or therapeutics approved for Ebola Sudan. Ebola Zaire vaccines are not effective in protecting against Ebola Sudan. During the 2022 outbreak, a randomised protocol for candidate vaccines was developed with teams trained in good clinical practice (GCP) and standard operating procedures of how to run studies during a national outbreak. Staff completed refresher training in recent days. WHO colleagues experienced in trials and ring vaccination arrived in Uganda over the weekend to support the trial implementation and GCP compliance. According to GlobalData's Pharmaceutical Intelligence Centre, there are 16 Ebola drugs in active clinical development, ten in Phase I, two in Phase II, and four in Phase III. Just one of the Phase III candidates, a combination of Johnson and Johnson's Mvabea and Zabdeno, is being investigated in Ebola Sudan. The Mvebea and Zabdeno regiment is approved for the Zaire ebolavirus. GlobalData is the parent company of Clinical Trials Arena. "WHO prioritises IAVI Sudan Ebola vaccine ring trial amid Uganda outbreak" was originally created and published by Clinical Trials Arena, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
