The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has begun vaccinating health workers and contacts of infected persons in Kasai province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The DRC’s health ministry confirmed last week that at least 15 people have died from the virus, with 28 suspected cases recorded so far in central Kasai.
In a statement on Sunday, WHO said frontline health workers and contacts of confirmed Ebola cases in Bulape zone are receiving doses of the Ervebo vaccine, which protects against the Zaire Ebola virus species identified as the cause of the current outbreak.
“An initial 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine — from the country’s stockpile of 2000 doses prepositioned in the capital Kinshasa — have been delivered to Bulape, one of the current hotspots of the outbreak. Additional doses will be delivered to the affected localities in the coming days,” WHO said.
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The UN health body explained that the vaccine is being administered using a ring vaccination strategy, targeting people at the highest risk of infection.
WHO said the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision has approved around 45,000 additional Ebola vaccine doses to be shipped to the DRC.
The health body said vaccination teams are being trained in data collection and field operations to aid rollout.
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“In addition to the vaccines, treatment courses of the monoclonal antibody therapy (Mab114) drug have also been sent to treatment centres in Bulape for clinical care,” it said.
WHO said it has deployed 48 experts in disease surveillance, clinical care, infection prevention, logistics and community engagement to strengthen response measures alongside Congolese authorities and partner organisations.
The organisation said neighbouring countries are also working to boost readiness for possible cross-border cases.
It said the risk from the outbreak is assessed as high at the national level, moderate at the regional level, and low globally.
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