Kenya seeks 10,000 Ebola vaccine doses as health workers get priority

Kenya is seeking 10,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine through international health agencies as it prioritises protection for health workers and continues treating eight people infected in an outbreak that has claimed one life.

Director General for Health Dr Patrick Amoth said the government had approached the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) for assistance in obtaining the doses.

Health workers are expected to receive the vaccine first, although the government is still working to secure the supply.

The vaccine under consideration is likely to be Ervebo, which is being trialled against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. However, evidence that it protects against this strain remains insufficient, and WHO recommends its use for Bundibugyo Ebola only under a research protocol.

Kenya's outbreak has so far resulted in one death and eight infections. Amoth said the eight patients were receiving care at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and Nairobi Hospital, where their condition remained stable and they were responding well to treatment.

The country's first case was recorded on October 6 after a Kenyan man who had been doing business in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) travelled through Entebbe, Uganda, before arriving in Nairobi by air. He died about 48 hours after developing symptoms, despite efforts to treat him.

Authorities subsequently began tracing people who had come into contact with the man. According to Amoth, the government has identified all 135 contacts, including a Ugandan national who arrived on a Jambo Jet flight but later left Kenya through Namanga.

“We listed 135 contacts, and we have been able to account for them 100 per cent,” he said.

“The last being a citizen of our sister republic who exited our country, came by air but exited by road, leading to the delay in identifying the last contact.”

Amoth gave the update during a WHO Africa Region briefing on Thursday, outlining the progress made in managing the outbreak and monitoring people who may have been exposed to the virus.

He said the eight patients had been given NB 134, a monoclonal antibody treatment, before receiving remdesivir, an antiviral medicine administered intravenously.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced substances designed to help the body fight disease. In this outbreak, NB 134 is being administered on a compassionate basis, meaning it is being used to help patients despite not being an established, licensed treatment specifically for the Bundibugyo strain.

“All of them are doing well after receiving treatment with the compassionate monoclonal antibody NB 134,” he said. “Some of them are on the second and third days of intravenous remdesivir, and all of them are stable and responding very well.”

One patient, however, experienced a fall in oxygen saturation and needed additional oxygen to support breathing and improve oxygen levels.

“One thing we noticed when we were giving the monoclonal antibody is that one of the patients had a desaturation and was managed with supplemental oxygen,” Amoth said. “Otherwise, we have not reported any adverse reaction to the medicine.”

WHO has cautioned that no vaccine or specific treatment is currently licensed for the Bundibugyo strain, even as researchers continue investigating possible options for preventing and treating the disease.

The response has also involved efforts to locate and quarantine people who may have been exposed to the virus. Amoth said this had proved difficult, especially during the initial days of the outbreak, because of the frequent movement of people across Nairobi.

To address the challenge, a multi-agency team led by the Kenya Defence Forces brought telecommunications companies and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) into the operation to help trace individuals who might have come into contact with infected people.

“Especially in the first few days, it was very, very difficult to get persons into quarantine,” he said. “But now, using intelligence and the telcos, we could map out where they are, and we got a lot of cooperation from the public.”

The Health ministry said people who entered quarantine on October 6 were expected to start leaving from the coming Sunday, having completed the required 21-day period without developing symptoms.

Those in other groups are expected to be released the following week, subject to health assessments and the completion of their respective monitoring periods.