On the first day of President Trump’s second term, he signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO). In an ironic twist of fate just 10 days later, a 32-year-old Ugandan nurse had a positive post-mortem test for a deadly filovirus. But unlike Ebola Zaire virus, its close viral kin, this man’s killer — the so-called Sudan virus (SV) — had no approved treatments or vaccines. By Feb. 4, Uganda identified 298 close contacts of the deceased nurse, including six other people who tested positive. Around the same time, WHO and Uganda’s Makerere University launched a first-ever ring-vaccination trial using a vaccine candidate from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). The rapid deployment of the vesicular stomatitis virus-based jab at an early (phase I) stage of development followed a recent phase I human trial, which, according to data shared at last November’s annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), indicated that the investigational vaccine was both safe and immunogenic.
Ebola Virus Strikes Again
- Published Feb 18, 2025