WHO approves trials for two new Ebola vaccines

The World Health Organization has approved clinical trials for two new Ebola vaccines, as doctors fight to contain the largest outbreak in the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The trials target the Bundibugyo strain, which has killed more than 5,300 people, most of them in the DRC, since May, Al Jazeera reported.

WHO expert groups recommended adding the two trials on Monday. The Bundibugyo virus carries a fatality rate of 50 percent, and public health agencies have struggled to contain it for lack of a vaccine or treatments designed specifically for the strain.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a trial that began last month used Ervebo, a vaccine approved for the Zaire strain of Ebola but not designed for Bundibugyo. The new candidates are built specifically for this virus. The DRC's National Institute for Biomedical Research is leading the trial, backed by the WHO and other partners. The vaccines were developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India and Moderna; results are expected in early 2027.

The scale of the outbreak is already without precedent in the country. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said 10,444 cases of Bundibugyo have been confirmed, making it the fastest-growing outbreak in the DRC's history. Kenya has reported nine cases, including two deaths, and one case has been confirmed in Nigeria, according to the WHO, which said it is supporting all countries neighbouring the DRC to prepare for cases crossing borders.

"Vaccines are powerful tools, but they are not substitutes for the proven measures that can save lives now: early care, contact tracing, isolation, safe and dignified burials and trusted engagement with communities," Tedros said.

Tedros also urged countries that have imposed travel restrictions to lift them, warning they could discourage transparent reporting. "Such restrictions punish countries for doing the right thing, create disincentives for transparency, and harm the response," he said.

Meanwhile, a British healthcare worker infected with Ebola is being evacuated from the DRC to the United Kingdom for specialist treatment, a UK government spokesperson said. The patient is in a stable condition and expected to arrive by Thursday, then be transferred to a high-consequence infectious disease unit; the risk to the UK public remains low, the statement said. For the communities burying their dead, the wait is longer: vaccine results are not expected until early 2027.