Two vaccines built for Congo's Ebola strain join a Congolese-led trial
WHO approved trials of an Oxford-Serum Institute shot and a Moderna mRNA vaccine designed for the Bundibugyo virus.
Kinshasa — The World Health Organization has approved clinical trials of two new Ebola vaccines designed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus, the strain behind the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the decision on Wednesday. The candidates are ChAdOx1 BDBV, developed by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and mRNA-1469, developed by Moderna.
They will join a trial that began last month with Ervebo, a vaccine approved for the Zaire Ebola virus but not for Bundibugyo. The trial is led by Congo's National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB), with WHO among its partners.
Care and tracing still come first
Africa CDC said on Monday that the outbreak had caused 10,444 confirmed cases and more than 5,300 deaths, most of them in DR Congo.
Tedros said vaccines were "powerful tools" but no substitute for the measures that save lives now: early care, contact tracing, isolation, safe and dignified burials, and work with communities they trust.
Source: Africanews, with AFP, November 2026.
