A volunteer in England has received the first dose of an experimental Ebola vaccine as cases of the deadly Bundibugyo ebolavirus strain surge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The trial vaccine, developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, was administered on Friday.
The volunteer, 37-year-old Ed Hunt from Oxford, stated he was motivated to participate after seeing news reports about the outbreak, which has become the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record.
"I had wanted to volunteer for the COVID vaccine trial but was unable to because of work commitments. After seeing news from DR Congo, I thought I’d like to do my bit," Hunt told The BBC.
The Oxford Vaccine Group plans to continue recruiting and vaccinating volunteers in the coming weeks and monitor their health. The experimental vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 BDBV, is designed to target the Bundibugyo strain, which currently lacks a licensed vaccine or specific treatments.
More than 2,500 cases have been reported since the outbreak was declared in May, resulting in over 1,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO has indicated that the actual number of infections could be more than double the confirmed figures, citing challenges in reaching affected areas due to armed conflict and unsafe conditions. Many new cases and deaths are occurring outside of known contact tracing efforts.
The rapid development of the ChAdOx1 BDBV vaccine, from concept to human trials in just eight weeks, was attributed to its use of the same technology as the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Decades of vaccine manufacturing expertise at the university’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility and collaboration with the Serum Institute of India, which has already produced and stockpiled 620,000 doses, also contributed to the swift timeline.
This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak in Congo since the virus was first identified in 1976.