The vaccination against Ebola of high-risk populations began on Monday in Côte d'Ivoire following the discovery of an outbreak in the country three days ago. The swift response came after the vaccine manufactured by Merck, which the World Health Organization (WHO) helped to secure to fight a four-month long outbreak in neighbouring Guinea, was quickly sent to the country.
The deployment from Guinea included 2,000 doses that are being used under the "ring strategy," where people who have come into contact with a confirmed Ebola patient are given the vaccine, as well as first responders and health workers.
'A critical tool'
Guinea also sent around 3000 vaccine doses manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. These are being used as booster jabs in areas not experiencing active transmission.
"The Ebola vaccine is a critical tool in the fight against the virus and so it's a top priority to move rapidly and start protecting people at high risk of the disease," said WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, who described the quick response as "remarkable and shows that with effective sub-regional solidarity we can quickly take measures to extinguish lethal infections that can potentially flare up into large outbreaks."
Guinea link unconfirmed
The outbreak was declared in Côte d'Ivoire after the Ebola virus was confirmed in a patient who travelled to Abidjan by road from Guinea. One suspected case and nine contacts have also been identified and are being monitored, although no deaths have been reported.
There is no indication yet that the current outbreak in Côte d'Ivoire is linked with the one that was in Guinea and further analysis and genomic sequencing is being carried out to help determine any connection.
