What we Know so far About the SVD Ebolavirus Outbreak in Uganda
This is the sixth outbreak of the virus, following a 2022 outbreak that resulted in 77 fatalities.
The number of confirmed cases of the current Ebola virus outbreak in Ugandahas increased to nine. The outbreak, caused by the Sudan strain of the virus, was confirmed in late January after three initial cases were confirmed. A 32-year-old male nurse was the first known case and the only recorded death so far in the outbreak of the virus. This outbreak follows shortly after the 2022 outbreak.
The Sudan Virus Disease (SVD) belongs in the ortho-Ebolavirus family of viral diseases. It’s aviral hemorrhagic fever with high case fatality ranging from 41 percent to 70 percent in previous outbreaks. It is typically characterized by an acute onset of fever with non-specific symptoms, including abdominal pain, fatigue and sore throat, followed several days later by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding.
The disease is contracted by person-to-person transmission through infected bodily fluids, tissues, and contaminated surfaces. Personal and public hygiene, including hand washing, disinfectant wiping surfaces, and minimal contact with infected individuals showing signs, are recommended.
While SVD and Ebola virus belong to the same disease family, the differences in genetic components and protein makeup make Ebola vaccines inefficient against the Sudan strain. Ahuman vaccine trial is now ongoing in Uganda amidst this current outbreak.
There’s currently no approved vaccine for SVD by the World Health Organization (WHO); however, it publishedguidelines for Ebola virus disease therapeutics in 2022. The health body cited clinical trials during Ebola outbreaks, “with the largest trial conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, demonstrating that the highest level of scientific rigor can be applied even during Ebola outbreaks in difficult contexts.”
Uganda had access to the same vaccine candidates during the 2022 outbreak, but trials could not occur before the outbreak ended in January 2023. Later, in 2023, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative embarked on Phase I vaccine testing for SVD.
Just over a week ago, 2,160 doses of the trial vaccine landed in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Health authorities and research teams, in partnership with the WHO, are ready to conduct the vaccine trials. This is Uganda’s sixth outbreak of the Sudan virus; there were 164 cases and 77 deaths in the 2022 outbreak.