Health officials want two experimental shots aimed at Bundibugyo ebolavirus folded into the Tumaini study that is already recruiting contacts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO advisory panels issued that guidance on 4 November, calling it the first attempt to evaluate Bundibugyo-tailored candidates while an outbreak is still burning. Local regulators must approve each product before wider dosing begins.
One platform comes from Oxford researchers working with India’s Serum Institute; the other is Moderna’s mRNA construct known as mRNA-1469. Reviewers said early lab and human data justified moving both forward. Tumaini’s ring design — contacts of confirmed patients — already tests Ervebo, a Zaire-licensed vaccine now being measured against this different species. Several rings are live, with more being stood up as case networks expand.
Partners describe the DRC wave as historically large for the country. Africa CDC tallies cited in reporting exceed 10,000 confirmed infections; coverage drawing on the same crisis puts deaths above 5,300 since May, with roughly half of known patients dying where Bundibugyo-specific licensed tools are missing. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the candidates as proof that science and coalitions can move fast, while warning that jabs cannot replace tracing, isolation and community trust.
A companion WHO-backed treatment study, PARTNERS, is already weighing monoclonal antibodies and antivirals; early clinical signals may appear within months, whereas vaccine efficacy readouts are mapped toward early 2027. Border states are being coached to spot spillover. Congo’s national biomedical institute leads the field work with Antwerp, MSF, Africa CDC and others — racing to add options against a strain that has never had its own licensed shot.
