World Health Organization, WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Wednesday a clinical trial of a vaccine to combat the Sudan strain of Ebola could start within weeks in Uganda.
Ghebreyesus did not provide details of the vaccines due for trial such as their names or which firms developed them.
But in a virtual address to a meeting of Africa regional health officials in Kampala, Ghebreyesus said several vaccines were currently being developed that could deal with the Sudan strain.
Two of those vaccines “could be put in a clinical trial in Uganda in the coming weeks pending regulatory and other approvals from the Ugandan government,” he said.
“Our primary focus now is to rapidly control and contain this outbreak to protect neighbouring districts as well as neighbouring countries.”
The East African country declared an outbreak of Ebola on Sept. 20 and said infections were being caused by the Sudan strain.
Uganda’s health ministry has confirmed a total of 54 Ebola cases and 19 deaths.
There have been worries the spread of infection in Uganda could be difficult to control because currently there is no vaccine for the Sudan strain. The epicentre of the infections is a cluster of five districts in central Uganda.
