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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
28 January 2025
Ring vaccination effective in containing Ebola
The success of targeted vaccination in combating the Ebola outbreak in the DRC paves the way for future strategies to combat similar infectious diseases.
A new study published1 [SUP]in[/SUP] the New England Journal of Medicine has highlighted the effectiveness of ring vaccination in containing Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Ring vaccination is a public health strategy that involves vaccinating close contacts of an exposed person, such as family and friends, to prevent the spread of the disease. The study evaluated ring vaccination as a critical tool for controlling the Ebola outbreak and the approach, targeting close contacts of confirmed cases and their contacts, proved instrumental in rapid and localized containment of the disease.
The study shows that ring vaccination significantly reduced the number of cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) starting 10 days after vaccination. Most infections occurred in the first nine days, before the protective effects of the vaccine were fully felt. By day 10, the number of cases had declined sharply, demonstrating the effectiveness of the vaccine. People vaccinated within eight days of the onset of symptoms of the index case had a significantly lower risk of infection than people vaccinated later.
The 2018–20 Ebola outbreak in the DRC recorded nearly 3,500 confirmed and probable cases and approximately 2,300 deaths, and the rollout of the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine marked a critical moment. The encirclement of new cases by vaccinated people created a protective barrier that helped slow the spread of the outbreak.
First examined during the 2015 West African Ebola outbreak, ring vaccination has proven effective at scale in the DRC, where more than 265,000 people were vaccinated in nearly 2,000 rings. The data mirror those from the 2015 Guinea trial, where immediate vaccination significantly reduced cases by day 10, in contrast to delayed vaccination, which led to sustained high case rates.
The study highlights the broader potential of ring vaccination. Diseases such as Marburg and Lassa fever, which are spread through close contact, could benefit from this strategy. Mark Feinberg, executive director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), stressed the need for proactive planning.
“We cannot just react to outbreaks as they occur. We need to be better prepared,” he told Nature Africa .
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d44148-025-00023-6
References
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT
28 January 2025
Ring vaccination effective in containing Ebola
The success of targeted vaccination in combating the Ebola outbreak in the DRC paves the way for future strategies to combat similar infectious diseases.
- By
- Paul Adepoju
A new study published1 [SUP]in[/SUP] the New England Journal of Medicine has highlighted the effectiveness of ring vaccination in containing Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Ring vaccination is a public health strategy that involves vaccinating close contacts of an exposed person, such as family and friends, to prevent the spread of the disease. The study evaluated ring vaccination as a critical tool for controlling the Ebola outbreak and the approach, targeting close contacts of confirmed cases and their contacts, proved instrumental in rapid and localized containment of the disease.
The study shows that ring vaccination significantly reduced the number of cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) starting 10 days after vaccination. Most infections occurred in the first nine days, before the protective effects of the vaccine were fully felt. By day 10, the number of cases had declined sharply, demonstrating the effectiveness of the vaccine. People vaccinated within eight days of the onset of symptoms of the index case had a significantly lower risk of infection than people vaccinated later.
The 2018–20 Ebola outbreak in the DRC recorded nearly 3,500 confirmed and probable cases and approximately 2,300 deaths, and the rollout of the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine marked a critical moment. The encirclement of new cases by vaccinated people created a protective barrier that helped slow the spread of the outbreak.
First examined during the 2015 West African Ebola outbreak, ring vaccination has proven effective at scale in the DRC, where more than 265,000 people were vaccinated in nearly 2,000 rings. The data mirror those from the 2015 Guinea trial, where immediate vaccination significantly reduced cases by day 10, in contrast to delayed vaccination, which led to sustained high case rates.
The study highlights the broader potential of ring vaccination. Diseases such as Marburg and Lassa fever, which are spread through close contact, could benefit from this strategy. Mark Feinberg, executive director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), stressed the need for proactive planning.
“We cannot just react to outbreaks as they occur. We need to be better prepared,” he told Nature Africa .
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d44148-025-00023-6
References
- Muyembe JJ, et al. N.Engl. J.Med. 391 , 2327-2336, (2024)