The University of Oxford began human trials of an Ebola vaccine, as the virus spread to two new provinces in the DR Congo, fueling fears the fast-moving outbreak is becoming harder to contain.
The trial will be carried out on 50 healthy adults in Oxford, UK, against the new Bundibugyo strain, which spread undetected in the DR Congo for weeks and for which there is no known vaccine or treatment.
The news comes as Congolese health officials confirmed new cases and one death in two more northeastern provinces. Health workers are racing to contain the disease, though efforts have been hampered by misinformation, ongoing conflict near virus-hit communities, and shortages caused by Western aid cuts.
Nearly 2,000 people have been infected and more than 700 have died in DR Congo and parts of Uganda since mid-May, in what experts fear could be the biggest Ebola outbreak on record. The World Health Organization warned last week that the true scale of the outbreak could be two to four times higher than official data suggests.