First Ebola Vaccine Dose Administered to Volunteer

Kathmandu. Oxford University has informed that the first dose of a rapidly developed vaccine against 'Bundibugyo' species of Ebola, which is spreading as a deadly epidemic in the African nation Democratic Republic of Congo, was administered to a volunteer on Friday.

According to the World Health Organization, more than one thousand people have died in Congo and Uganda from this epidemic that started in May.

After this, scientists and health organizations are rushing to develop a vaccine or treatment against this rare species of Ebola and bring it to the human testing (clinical trial) stage.

At the beginning of this month, a team from Oxford University in Britain announced that they had started the first clinical trial of their ChAdOx1 bidi vaccine. This vaccine is based on the same technology as AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.

According to an Oxford University spokesperson who spoke to AFP, the first dose was given to 37-year-old volunteer Ed Hunt in Oxford on Friday.

"It took us only eight weeks to get this vaccine candidate from concept to clinic," said David Pulido-Gomez of Oxford's Pandemic Sciences Institute in a statement.

"Achieving this milestone in such a short time is the result of extraordinary collaboration," he added. This trial has been funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and India's Serum Institute has already produced a stock of six hundred and twenty thousand doses.

The first phase of the trial plans to test the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in 50 healthy adults in the coming weeks. Researchers are currently recruiting more volunteers.

Oxford has stated that it is preparing to conduct further clinical studies with partners in Uganda, subject to regulatory approval. Other vaccines against the 'Bundibugyo' species are also under development, and two potential treatments are also being prepared.

This is the 17th Ebola outbreak in Congo, but only the third outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo species. There is no approved vaccine or treatment available for this species yet.

Last week, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that this epidemic was spreading faster than "any previous Ebola outbreak" in the last month.

This epidemic is concentrated in the country's vast, mineral-rich, and conflict-torn northeastern province.

Ebola, which spreads through close contact and infected bodily fluids, has also been detected in four other provinces of Congo.