U.S. ships Marburg vaccines to Rwanda after 11 die in outbreak

US government partners with Rwanda for Marburg clinical trials, vaccine shipments, and therapeutic drug donations.

The United States government completed an initial shipment of vaccine doses and therapeutic drugs for Marburg disease to Rwanda on Oct. 4, Thierry Roels, U.S. CDC Country Director in Rwanda told Reuters on Saturday (October 5, 2024).

The U.S. government is also working closely with international partners and Rwanda's Ministry of Health on the start of clinical trials to evaluate investigational countermeasures, he said.

Mr. Roels added that the U.S. government was considering additional shipments that can supply the clinical trials, but did not say how many doses had been delivered on Friday.

Rwanda's first outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic fever was detected in late September, with 36 cases and 11 deaths reported so far. Marburg has a fatality rate as high as 88%.

Rwandan Health Minister Sabin Nsanziman said on Thursday that the country will start clinical trials of experimental vaccines and treatments for the disease.

Four vaccine candidates have been evaluated for potential use in trials by WHO, but only one, made by the Sabin Vaccine Institute non-profit, has data from early-stage human trials showing it is safe and led to an immune response. Further testing of the vaccines outside of outbreak settings is not possible because of the risks involved.

The Sabin Vaccine Institute said on Saturday it had delivered around 700 doses of its vaccine to Rwanda, to be used in a trial targeting frontline workers, including healthcare professionals.