Ebola Vaccination Found Very Protective

Over the past decades, Ebolavirus outbreaks have significantly impacted people's health in African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Ebola, Sudan, and Bundibugyo are the viruses responsible for most large African outbreaks.

As of March 2024, the DRC has had 15 documented Zaire Ebolavirus outbreaks, with one recording a case-fatality rate of 66%.

A recent analysis indicates one U.S. FDA-approved vaccine has successfully reduced the impact of Ebola outbreaks.

The Lancet Infectious Disease published an Article in December 2024, Volume 24, Issue 12p1357-1365, which is the first to provide estimates of the real-world effectiveness of the rVSV-ZEBOV (Ervebo®) vaccine against Ebola virus disease (EVD) amid the widespread use of the vaccine during a large Ebola virus disease outbreak.

After selecting individuals who reported exposure to an individual with EVD within 21 days before symptom onset and matching, the analysis datasets comprised a median of 309 cases and 309 controls. Ten days or more after vaccination, the effectiveness of rVSV-ZEBOV against EVD was estimated to be 84% (95% credible interval 70–92).

This Médecins Sans Frontières funded review confirms that rVSV-ZEBOV is highly protective against Ebola virus disease and supports its use during outbreaks, even in challenging contexts such as the eastern DRC.

As of April 2024, the U.S. CDC reported that most of the Ervedo doses (139,120; 95%) shipped from the stockpile had been repurposed for preventive vaccination of high-risk groups, compared with 6,570 (5%) used for outbreak response.

As of early December 2024, Merck's Ervebo vaccine was licensed in the U.S., the U.K., the European Union, Canada, and various countries. Recently, Sierra Leone became the first country to launch a preventive Ebola vaccination campaign targeting 20,000 frontline workers.

This Ebola vaccine is not generally commercially available.

As of December 14, 2024, the CDC says no active Travel Health Notices are focused on Ebola outbreaks.