The ongoing Ebola vaccine trial in Uganda marks a significant achievement in the fight against the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated.

In a statement posted on its website, the WHO said the trial, which began with contacts of the index Ebola case in the country, aims to assess the clinical efficacy of a candidate vaccine against the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus.

According to the UN agency, this is the first-ever vaccine trial for the Sudan strain of Ebola.

Principal investigators from Uganda’s Makerere University and the state-run Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), with support from the WHO and other partners, prepared the trial within four days at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, following the outbreak’s confirmation on January 30.

“This is a critical achievement toward better pandemic preparedness and saving lives when outbreaks occur,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He credited Uganda’s health workers, local communities, the Ministry of Health, Makerere University, and UVRI for their dedication, along with research efforts led by WHO involving hundreds of scientists.

There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for the Sudan strain of Ebola, but early initiation of supportive care has been shown to significantly reduce mortality, according to the WHO, Xinhua news agency reported.

The WHO has donated 2,160 doses of the trial vaccine to Uganda.

With WHO’s support, Uganda has established an 84-bed Ebola isolation and treatment facility in Kampala to manage suspected and confirmed cases.

Henry Kyobe Bosa, Incident Commander at the Ministry of Health, said that the unit in Mulago National Referral Hospital is staffed with a pre-trained national emergency medical team.

“We have set up an Ebola isolation unit at Mulago and deployed a national emergency medical team to manage cases at the facility,” Bosa said.

He added that the development of the isolation facility, along with training and deployment of the emergency team, has been supported by the WHO in collaboration with the World Bank.

Another isolation unit in Mbale is expected to be operational by the end of Monday.

Uganda declared an Ebola outbreak last week after a 32-year-old nurse succumbed to the disease. The Ministry of Health has identified 45 individuals who had contact with the deceased.

The ministry has urged the public to remain calm, assuring that it is in control of the situation and committed to protecting all citizens against Ebola.

WHO data showed that Uganda’s last Sudan Ebola virus outbreak began in September 2022 and ended in January 2023, with 164 cases and 77 deaths recorded.