WHO announces first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the Bundibugyo outbreak, at Bunia in Ituri

24 October 2026

The World Health Organization has announced the beginning of the first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak that started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a social media post on Friday, 23 October 2026, that participants in the trial were vaccinated with the Ervebo vaccine in Bunia, the capital of the northeastern Ituri province, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. Ervebo is approved for use against the more common Zaire strain of Ebola and will now be put through a full-scale human trial to see whether it offers cross-protection against the Bundibugyo species of Ebola behind the current epidemic. Tedros said the trial will help establish whether any of the vaccine candidates designed for Bundibugyo virus work, and that WHO is supporting a Congo-led effort.