Rwanda, on October 6, kicked off a trial vaccination drive focused on people at highest risk of contracting Marburg virus, especially healthcare workers, according to the Ministry of Health. The vaccination consists of administering an investigational vaccine for Marburg virus manufactured by the Sabin Vaccine Institute, an American organisation dedicated to making vaccines more accessible. It comes after the Ministry of Health confirmed the first ever Marburg virus outbreak in the country on September 27.
As of October 6, 49 cases of the virus had been confirmed and 12 deaths. Eight had recovered, and 29 who were in isolation and receiving treatment. While a number of Marburg virus vaccines are at various stages of development, a article published in the multi-disciplinary science journal Nature , on October 1, 2024, titled "Deadly Marburg virus: Scientists race to test vaccines in outbreak," pointed out that a World Health Organization (WHO) advisory committee, in 2023, had named the Sabin vaccine as its top candidate for testing during a Marburg virus outbreak.
The vaccine uses a modified chimpanzee adenovirus called cAd3, which can no longer replicate or infect cells, and displays a specific protein found on the surface of Marburg virus to induce immune responses against the virus, according to a paper published in British medical journal The Lancet , on January 28, 2023. The paper titled "Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the chimpanzee adenovirus type 3-vector.
