The inaugural Ugandan volunteers have received an Ebola immunisation created at Oxford University, marking the beginning of a safety assessment programme in the country.
The initial injections were administered on October 6 in Masaka, located to the west of Lake Victoria.
This development follows the commencement of a first-in-human clinical assessment in the United Kingdom that examined the identical vaccine candidate.
The injections were given as part of an examination into the safety and effectiveness of a Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine candidate produced by the Oxford Vaccine Group alongside the Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford.
Work on this immunisation commenced in May of this year, prompted by the continuing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The investigation, overseen by Professor Teresa Lambe and Professor Simon Drysdale, receives financial support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Currently, no authorised vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus is available.
The World Health Organisation designated the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern during May.
Preliminary evaluation of the vaccine will focus on its safety profile and its capacity to provoke an immune response among healthy adult participants.
At this initial phase, the study does not aim to establish whether the vaccine prevents infection or illness.
The Oxford Vaccine Group administered the candidate to the first participant in that British study on July 24, representing the inaugural human administration of the candidate.
Collectively, these investigations constitute part of a worldwide initiative intended to address a substantial deficiency in medical countermeasures against Ebola outbreaks.
Confirmed infections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s outbreak have exceeded 9,000 as attempts to curb transmission encounter difficulties, according to health ministry figures released on Tuesday.
The ministry documented 9,066 confirmed infections alongside 4,381 fatalities, a mortality rate representing almost one half of all documented cases.