Rwanda Moves to Start Marburg Vaccination Trials as First Outbreak Declared
Rwanda — who has seen 11 people die, and more infected with deadly Marburg disease— is ready to start testing experimental vaccines, and other treatments. According to the country’s health Minister, Sabin Nsanzimana the trials should begin within a few weeks. It is in response to Rwanda’s first reported cases of the disease found late last month.
Situation Update: Marburg Virus Disease outbreak, Rwanda
According to the most recent figures, in Rwanda 36 cases of Marburg disease have been diagnosed and 11 souls lost. The epidemic has sparked alarm among health officials, who have moved quickly to contain the outbreak. Like Ebola, the disease is extremely infectious and potentially deadly.
Vaccine Studies & Research Collaboration
Together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and some pharmaceutical companies, the Rwandan Ministry of Health is speeding up vaccine and treatment research and development in order to defeat this outbreak. Rwanda is working with U.S. and European companies(researchers) to get vaccines and treatments adopted as quickly as possible, said Minister Nsanzimana.
Nsanzimana said, “We are using vaccines and medicines developed specifically for this outbreak in late-stage research. The WHO has already given ethical green-light light for vaccine trials and Rwanda is now awaiting a similar approval from the its national authorities.
Global Solidarity And Finance
The WHO has also played an integral role in coordinating the response to the outbreak, including convening a meeting with government, academic and industry partners to accelerate provision of vaccine and treatment doses for the trials. The European Union Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), along with the Canadian government, has also provided further backing. Money has also been made available to support these vital trials in Rwanda.
Potential Vaccine Candidates
The most promising of the four vaccines reviewed by the WHO is that developed by the Sabin Vaccine Institute. The vaccine has already been tested on people in phase 1 trials showing no major side effects and eliciting an immune response. However, risk associated with testing of these vaccines beyond outbreak settings has hampered further studies.
Marburg Virus: Death in a Petri Dish
Marburg disease is less common, yet equally deadly viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) as the Ebola comparable fatality rate of Marburg VHF 50%. This occurs when you are in direct contact with the body fluids of animals and humans struggling with the disease — for example, Egyptian rousette bats. When a patient is infected, the virus can spread from person to person by close contact and through bodily fluids or contaminated materials like clothing and bedsheets.
Symptoms The symptoms of MERS are fever, chills, muscle aches, malaise, rash, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Treatment is mostly supportive as there are no specific treatments or vaccines to manage the symptoms of COVID-19.
Attempts to Contain the Outbreak Locally and Globally
Rwanda is getting assistance from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) which has deployed a team of experts to help manage the outbreak. Other countries such as Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo are also working in collaboration with Rwanda for cross-border surveillance to ensure that the disease does not spread further.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also advising Rwandan health authorities about Marburg, but no cases of the virus have been reported in the US
Conclusion
Rwanda are now the only country racing to provide a countermeasure as the clock ticks on Marburg and with their speed of response, actions initiated for vaccine trial and weapons-grade collaboration with international health bodies shows that they can control the virus. If a Marburg outbreak does occur for the first time in the country, it’s possible that efforts to generate global partnerships and innovate to create vaccines will be necessary to save lives or prevent further outbreaks.