Rwanda Receives First Experimental Marburg Vaccine Doses from Sabin Institute

Rwanda's Ministry of Health has received an initial emergency shipment of 700 doses of an investigational Marburg virus vaccine from the United States-based Sabin Vaccine Institute. The arrival of the vaccine candidates enables Rwandan public health authorities to initiate an open-label Phase 2 clinical trial just ten days after declaring the country's first-ever documented outbreak of the lethal filovirus.

The Marburg outbreak, confirmed in late September, has concentrated heavily among healthcare workers across several referral medical facilities in Kigali. Because Marburg virus disease causes severe hemorrhagic fever with case fatality rates historically reaching up to 88 percent, safeguarding frontline clinical staff against nosocomial transmission became the immediate priority of national health officials.

Emergency Ring Vaccination Launched for Frontline Medical Personnel

The investigational candidate, known as the cAd3-Marburg vaccine, utilizes a chimpanzee adenovirus vector engineered to express the surface glycoprotein of the Marburg virus. Phase 1 human trials demonstrated that the single-dose vaccine elicited robust immune responses with a favorable safety profile, prompting global health authorities to clear its emergency deployment under clinical trial protocols.

Rwandan health teams initiated ring vaccination protocols targeting doctors, nurses, intensive care personnel, and traced close contacts of confirmed patients. By creating an immunological shield around known transmission nodes, authorities aim to sever viral chains within treatment centers while gathering crucial safety and efficacy data.

“Deploying these investigational vaccine countermeasures within ten days of outbreak confirmation demonstrates our determination to protect healthcare workers and rapidly suppress Marburg transmission.” — Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda

International Coalition Supports Rapid Outbreak Clinical Countermeasures

The clinical rollout is conducted in close partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). BARDA previously supported preclinical and early clinical development of the Sabin platform, which proved critical for enabling immediate formulation and shipment to Kigali.

Health authorities emphasized that ring vaccination complements rigorous contact tracing, patient isolation, and specialized personal protective equipment protocols. If the Phase 2 trial validates clinical protective efficacy, the data will establish a global benchmark for future filovirus epidemic responses across the African continent.

Sources

• Rwanda Ministry of Health
• Sabin Vaccine Institute