Uganda launched a vaccine against a new outbreak of Ebola that has killed one person and infected two so far. The first patient died last week(as of this article). On Monday February 10th, the initial trial participant received a dose of the vaccine. There is currently no approved vaccine for the Sudan strain, but a vaccine does exist for the Zaire strain in the DRC. The Sudan virus is severe, with a 40% fatality rate. 40 contacts with the first victim will be vaccinated, and Uganda’s health ministry has listed 234 others who are eligible for monitoring. The WHO is collaborating with the Uganda ministry of health as well as other organizations to conduct vaccine trials. According to the WHO director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti, it “marks a major milestone in public health emergency response”. Over the weekend, over 2,000 trial vaccines and treatments arrived in the capital Kampala. If successful, it will allow Uganda to bolster its defenses against Ebola outbreaks in the future.
Ebola has plagued West Africa for a long time. Vulnerable countries are no stranger to outbreaks. The virus has been very difficult to quell, and it will take persistent vaccination efforts to fully eradicate it. While it has been eradicated in other areas of the world, Africa is still struggling with the disease. If countries cooperate with the WHO and each other, they will be able to eradicate Ebola due to how rare it is. The question now is what the moves are in the future.
They are pretty straightforward. The world knows how to take care of a pandemic, given that we’ve done so multiple times and will do so again in the future. All that’s left is to do what’s tried and true. The Ebola virus is rare, yes, but it’s also deadly. The WHO and Ugandan ministry of health are taking big and necessary steps forward to take care of the virus. This largely falls into domestic and not foreign affairs, however it is worth keeping in mind that this outbreak could spread into other countries if not kept under control. I am confident it will be kept under control, but just in case.