Rwanda to start vaccine trials for Marburg disease in a few weeks
Adds detail from WHO in paragraphs 5-6, 8
By Philbert Girinema
KIGALI, Oct 3 (Reuters) -Rwanda will start cinical trials of experimental vaccinesand treatments for Marburg disease in the next few weeks, its health ministersaid on Thursday, to fight the country's first outbreak of the viral fever, which has so far killed 11 people.
The disease was detected in late September, with 36 cases reported so far, health ministry data shows.
"This is part of our efforts to help people recover quickly by utilising vaccines and medicines specifically developed to fight this outbreak, currently in the final phase of research," the minister, Sabin Nsanzimana, told Reuters.
"We are collaborating with the pharmaceutical companies that developed these, alongside the World Health Organization, to expedite the process through multilateral collaboration."
The WHO said it was working with the government and had held a meeting of industry, academic and government partners to speed up access to vaccine and treatment doses for trials.
It has given ethical approval for these types of trials during Marburg outbreaks, and said the next urgent step was a similar approval from the Rwandan authorities. The WHO has also released funding, alongside the Canadian government and the European Union's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), a spokesperson said by email.
Nsanzimana said the government was speaking to companies based in the U.S. and Europe.
Four vaccine candidates have been evaluated for potential use in trials by WHO, but only one, made by the Sabin Vaccine Institute non-profit, has data from early-stage human trials showing it is safe and led to an immune response. Further testing of the vaccines outside of outbreak settings is not possible because of the risks involved.
There are also a number of treatments that could be trialled, including Gilead Science's remdesivir, an antiviral used during the pandemic to treat COVID-19 and originally developed to treat Ebola, which is related to Marburg.
The ministry is monitoring 410 people who have been in contactwith those infected, assistant health minister Yvan Butera said earlier. Five other people tested negative but were awaiting the results of further tests.
A viral hemorrhagic fever, Marburg symptoms include high fever, severe headaches and malaise which typically develop within seven days of infection, according to the WHO.
With a fatality rate as high as 88%, it istransmitted to humans by fruit bats, before spreading through contact with the bodily fluids of those infected.
Neighbouring Tanzania had cases of Marburg in 2023, as did Uganda in 2017.
Reporting by Philbert Girinema; Additional reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Writing by George Obulutsa;
Editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Gareth Jones
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