ISTANBUL

A clinical trial of a potentially effective vaccine against Sudan Virus Disease (SVD) has started in Uganda after the country’s Health Ministry confirmed a Sudan Ebola outbreak last week.

This "major milestone" in public health emergency response highlights the "power of collaboration" in global health security, Matshidiso Moeti, regional director for Africa at the World Health Organization (WHO), said on X Monday.

"If proven effective, the vaccine will further strengthen measures to protect communities from future outbreaks," she added.

Moeti underlined that WHO and its partners are working closely with Uganda to boost efforts to prevent the virus from spreading and save lives.

The WHO donated 2,160 doses of a candidate vaccine and treatments to Uganda to support Kampala in responding to the latest Sudan Ebola outbreak.

Meanwhile, Uganda’s Health Ministry confirmed two new cases of the Ebola virus in the capital, Kampala, following the outbreak reported last week that killed a 32-year-old male nurse at the country’s main referral hospital.

"To date, we have identified two new cases, who are close relatives of the deceased, who was the index case," Emanuel Ainebyoona, spokesperson for the ministry, told reporters in Kampala. The current number of laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases is now three.

Ainebyoona said the new patients are receiving treatment and have received the compassionate Ebola vaccine, while an isolation center has been set up at the main Mulago Referral Hospital.

He said health workers who were in contact with the deceased nurse are currently under quarantine at a designated facility.

Ainebyoona also said the ministry is working with all the institutions of learning in the country to ensure that they control the spread of mpox and curb transmission of Ebola as schools reopen in the country.

The East African country reported six SVD outbreaks in 2000, 2011, 2012, 2022, and 2025, including the latest outbreak. The previous SVD outbreak in late 2022 claimed 55 lives.

Sudan Virus Disease, caused by the Sudan Ebola virus, is a hemorrhagic fever with a high fatality rate. It starts with fever and common symptoms such as abdominal pain, fatigue, and sore throat, followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and sometimes a rash, according to WHO.

Sudan Ebola is one of six species of the Ebola virus. There is currently no licensed vaccine against the Sudan Ebola virus, according to the world health body.