Deadly Marburg virus: Scientists work on vaccine tests during the outbreak

Deadly Marburg virus: Scientists work on vaccine tests during the outbreak

researchers are in the race against the time to use vaccines and treatments against a deadly virus, which in Rwanda has broken out.

until September 30th, the Central African country has recorded 27 cases and 9 deaths by the Marburg virus, a highly fatal relative of the Ebola-Virus , which also causes hemorrhagic fever, with most cases in health care workers in Kigali, the capital of the country.

There are currently no approved therapies or vaccines against the Marburg virus. If the current outbreaks are going on - most are small and quickly contained - health authorities and researchers hope to collect valuable data on the security and potential effectiveness of vaccines and treatments.

On September 30th, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, a conference conference with Rwandic scientists , which were appointed by the government, to carry out possible vaccine and treatment tests, as well as members of the consortium for Marburg-Virus vaccination (Marvac), a group of companies, non-profit organizations and researchers, according to a WHO spokesman.

ring vaccination

General plans for the studies were drawn up in equatorial guinea in 2023 after a outbreak of Marburg virus, which caused 12 deaths in 17 confirmed cases and 23 other likely fatal cases. However, no experimental medication were tested during this outbreak.

ira Longini, biostatistic at the University of Florida in Gainesville and a member of Marvac, says that if the outbreak is planned to Rwanda, at least one vaccine called ring vaccination is planned. This approach, which showed the effectiveness of an Ebola vaccine in Guinea during the West Africa outbreak in 2014–2016, includes the immunization of contact persons of an infected individual.

Einethik Commission of the WHO previously had plans for the vaccine test and for treatments such as the Antiviral drug remdesivir , which was tested against Ebola and Covid-19. In addition, Monoclonal antibody treatments , which were promising in animals. The WHO spokesman explained that the next urgent step is to approve the studies in Rwanda.

Several vaccines against the Marburg virus are located in various development phases. A candidate of the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington DC, who uses a modified chimpanzees-adolus, is most advanced to give the cells instructions for the production of a Marburg virus protein. A study with 40 healthy participants from the USA showed that the vaccine was safe and in most people an immune response against the virus 1 A larger study in Uganda and Kenya is underway.

A spokesman for Sabin says that the group is working with the Rwandian government, but did not indicate how many doses of the vaccine are currently available. In 2023, a WHO advisory committee named the Sabin vaccine as the best candidate for tests during a Marburg virus outbreak.

quick production

A similar vaccine that is developed at the University of Oxford, UK, was also mentioned as a priority for tests during a outbreak of Marburg. Teresa Lambe, a vaccinologist in Oxford that leads the development of the Marburg vaccine, says that the vaccine has so far proven in the few participants who received it in a current study in Great Britain.

Mark Feinberg, Managing Director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative in New York City, explains that no doses of the Marburg vaccine, which its organization is developing-similar to an approved Ebola vaccine-are currently available, but the production is to begin this week.

"The Rwandic health authorities are exceptionally competent and I hope that they will be able to quickly contain this outbreak," adds Feinberg. "The risks of spreading the outbreak to adjacent countries are not insignificant, and the consequences could be serious."

The fact that there are clinical examination plans and other preparations have increased the chances that Marburg vaccines and treatments will be used in Rwanda, says Nancy Sullivan, viral immunologist at Boston University in Massachusetts. However, it is likely that data on Marburg vaccines and treatments must be collected during several outbreaks.

"The idea is now to just move in and not to worry that the outbreak could end," added Sullivan. "It's just a part of the entire study."

1. Hamer, M. J. et al. Lancet. 401, 294–302 (2023).

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