Ebola Claims Two More Lives in Congo as Vaccinations Under Way

Ebola was discovered in Congo in 1976 and the current outbreak is the first to be tackled with a vaccination campaign. It's using the still-unlicensed rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine that was trialed successfully in Guinea in 2015 during a major outbreak in parts of West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people.

The treatment's manufacturer, Merck & Co., has donated 7,540 doses that arrived in Congo last week. Another 8,000 doses will be made available in the coming days, the World Health Organization said Monday.

So far, 24 cases have been confirmed around Bikoro and four in Mbandaka, a city of 1.2 million people that's connected by the Congo River to Kinshasa and Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

On Monday, the Health Ministry, WHO and partners started a "ring vaccination" program in Mbandaka and Bikoro, initially immunizing health workers who've been exposed to confirmed cases. Hundreds of people who have been in contact with infected individuals, as well as contacts of contacts, have been identified to be vaccinated, the WHO said.

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