Researchers at the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) are working urgently to develop a vaccine for Bundibugyo Ebolavirus amid an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The initiative involves Oxford’s Clinical BioManufacturing Facility and the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL), aiming to rapidly produce and scale doses of their ChAdOx-based monovalent Bundibugyo Ebolavirus candidate vaccine, ChAdOx1 BDBV.
The viral-vector platform used in this effort was also instrumental in developing the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 900 suspected cases have been identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since May 15, with 101 confirmed cases. The outbreak epicenter is Ituri province, where nearly 5 million people live amid ongoing conflict and one in four requires humanitarian assistance.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that violence has forced people to flee, including health workers, severely hindering contact tracing efforts. He stated the outbreak has raised the risk level to “very high” due to the virus’s potential for rapid spread.
The first known case was a nurse who presented symptoms on April 24 in Bunia, Ituri province. An internal Congolese health ministry report indicated she was buried in Mongbwalu, a gold-mining town that had experienced unexplained deaths throughout April, including four health workers who died within a single week.
Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group and Pandemic Sciences Institute, noted: “My hope is that this outbreak can be brought under control quickly and that vaccines are ultimately not needed. Nevertheless, our team and partners will continue working to ensure that potential vaccine options are available if they are needed.”