A doctor at an Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Congo, on July 13, 2026. Benediction Murhabazi/AFP via Getty Images
The first person has received an experimental vaccine against Ebola, officials announced July 27.
A volunteer on Monday received a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford targeting the Bundibugyo virus, an orthoebolavirus that can cause Ebola.
The phase 1 trial is taking place in the UK and will assess the vaccine’s safety and the immune responses it elicits.
“This is an important milestone for the trial, and marks the next phase in our multinational collaborative journey to develop a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine,” Dr. Katrina Pollock, the trial’s chief investigator, said in a statement.
“With the help of our many vaccine research partners and, importantly, the clinical trial volunteers, our team will continue to work tirelessly in our response to this severe outbreak.”
The trial is being funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
The vaccine, called ChAdOx1 BDBV, uses the same platform as the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, which was administered in the UK and some other countries.
An Indian manufacturer working with Oxford University has already manufactured about 620,000 doses of the vaccine and is awaiting authorization. The company also supplied 4,000 doses for the trial.
No timeline has been provided for finishing the phase 1 trial or additional studies. Officials said they are preparing for additional studies with partners in Uganda and that, if early-stage trials are successful, they plan to conduct late-stage trials to support emergency authorization.
There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus. It is behind a growing outbreak of Ebola in central Africa.
The number of confirmed deaths from Ebola in Congo, where the outbreak is centered, is 1,405, authorities there said on Monday. That is about 44 percent of the 3,200 confirmed cases.
The outbreak has spread to five provinces in Congo as well as portions of Uganda, a neighboring country, although Uganda has said it has not confirmed any new cases for weeks.
“With Bundibugyo cases increasing at a concerning rate in the [Congo], this epidemic shows no signs of stopping. The need for a vaccine against this specific Ebolavirus becomes more urgent every day,” Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said in a statement.
‘The rapid work of the Oxford team to begin early-stage testing of their vaccine is a much-needed step towards developing the tools that could help bring this outbreak to an end.”
