Experimental Ebola vaccine approved in DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo has approved an experimental Ebola vaccine this week to help address the slew of recent Ebola cases announced earlier this month, the first outbreak since the 2014 epidemic.

Note: The vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, isn't yet licensed. But it's a promising experimental drug. It has shown positive movement in a clinical trial in Guinea, leaving 5,837 subjects who received the vaccination free of Ebola virus 10 days after receiving the vaccination. Compare that to 23 cases in 6,004 subjects who weren't vaccinated.

Médecins San Frontières arrived this week to go over protocol with the technical teams, although it may be difficult transporting the drug to the rural Bas-Uélé province where the recent cases have been recorded.