The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are sending 70,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine to Congo, fulfilling a request from the central African country, which is dealing with the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.
Merck’s Ervebo, the Ebola vaccine, is cleared for use against Ebola caused by the Zaire ebolavirus. Congo’s growing Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no vaccines are approved.
Congo requested doses of Ervebo, and the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, a coalition of four groups that stockpiles and offers vaccines upon request, approved an initial release of 70,000 doses, according to the WHO, one of the groups.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the approval was “an important example of global solidarity in action.”
The outbreak to date has caused 5,208 confirmed cases and 2,476 deaths, Congo officials said on Aug. 19. That means that the case fatality rate, the percentage of patients with confirmed cases who have died, is 47.5 percent.
The deadliest Ebola outbreak in world history took place in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, killing more than 11,000 people.
“The response is being strengthened, notably through vaccination with ERVEBO and intensified surveillance and case management in the affected areas,” Congo’s Ministry of Communication and Media said in a post on X.
Some 20,000 doses will go to a previously announced phase 3 clinical trial that will assess the efficacy of the vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus. The rest will be for frontline and health workers.
It’s not clear whether Ervebo works against the Bundibugyo virus, the WHO noted, although preliminary laboratory and animal data “suggest it may provide some protection.”
A hygiene worker cleans the boots of healthcare workers at the Rwampara Ebola Treatment Center in Bunia, Ituri Province, in the east of Congo on July 13, 2026. Benediction Murhabazi/AFP via Getty Images
“It is key that the people offered the vaccine, in the trial and otherwise, receive information of the risks, potential benefits and limitations related to the use of the vaccine in an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus and are able to provide informed consent,” the WHO stated.
The other coordinating group members are Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, and the U.N. Children’s Fund.
The International Coordinating Group stockpiles vaccines and releases them to countries facing epidemics, provided the requests meet certain criteria, according to its website. For approved requests, the target is to deliver doses within 10 days.
Healthcare workers celebrate with survivors of Ebola as they leave hospital, after being declared cured, in Ituri Province, eastern Congo, at the Ebola Treatment Center of the Evangelical Medical Center on June 23, 2026. Benediction Murhabazi/AFP via Getty Images
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, said it was providing $7 million to send the doses to Congo for the phase 3 trial and healthcare workers.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said this week that it would fund four studies to test vaccines licensed against the Zaire virus against the Bundibugyo virus, including one in America using serum from people who received one of the Zaire-targeting vaccines.
The Ebola outbreak in Congo was detected in mid-May. The outbreak started earlier. A delay in detection stemmed from initial testing being unable to identify the Bundibugyo virus, authorities have said.
