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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 24243, member: 2262"] Uganda Plans Vaccine Trial to Combat Kampala Ebola Outbreak. Health officials in Uganda are preparing to test a new vaccine after an Ebola case emerged in Kampala. The trial aims to protect people against the Sudan strain of the virus. According to Pontiano Kaleebu, head of the Uganda Virus Research Institute, scientists will deploy over 2,000 doses of the candidate vaccine. The unlicensed vaccine requires quick regulatory approval. The World Health Organization has provided 2,160 trial doses to support Uganda's response. Research teams have joined surveillance efforts as they await formal approvals. No approved vaccines exist for the Sudan strain of Ebola, which killed a nurse at Kampala's main hospital last Wednesday. Officials declared an outbreak the next day. The source remains under investigation, with no other cases reported. Uganda held similar vaccine doses after a 2022 outbreak that claimed 55 lives. Kaleebu said time ran out to start vaccine studies when that outbreak ended. A different vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, proved successful against the Zaire strain in eastern Congo from 2018 to 2020. It protected 3,000 people at risk. Uganda's history includes several Ebola outbreaks. A 2000 outbreak killed hundreds. The 2014-16 West African outbreak caused 11,000 deaths. Contact tracing plays a vital role in controlling Ebola's spread. Health officials have identified 44 contacts, including 30 medical workers and patients. The outbreak adds to recent viral fever cases in East Africa. Tanzania reported Marburg disease this month. Rwanda contained its Marburg outbreak in December. Tanzania's outbreak killed two people. Kampala faces extra challenges with its mobile population of 4 million. The infected nurse sought care near Kampala before traveling to Mbale in eastern Uganda. He visited both a hospital and a traditional healer. Ebola spreads through body fluids or contaminated items. Signs include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and bleeding. The virus first appeared in 1976 in South Sudan and Congo. Scientists believe outbreaks start when humans contact infected animals or eat their meat. The disease takes its name from Congo's Ebola River. [/QUOTE]

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