Canada has approved Moderna to begin Phase 1 clinical trials of a vaccine targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, making it the second country after the United Kingdom to authorize testing of the candidate. The trial will assess the safety and antibody response of the mRNA-based vaccine, which uses the same technology as Moderna's coronavirus shot.
No approved vaccine or treatment currently exists for the Bundibugyo variant, which has killed more than 1,700 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak, the 17th and largest in the country's history, was declared in May and has infected over 3,800 people across five provinces, with nearly 90 percent of cases concentrated in Ituri.
Canada has agreed to manufacture the vaccine domestically and closed its borders in July to foreign nationals who recently visited the DRC. The World Health Organization on Tuesday called for increased international support to combat the outbreak. A separate Bundibugyo vaccine developed by the University of Oxford began its own Phase 1 trial in late July.