Get Guardian on GoogleNCDC, Robert Koch Institute to strengthen AMR surveillance in Nigeria
World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended two new vaccine candidates for an ongoing Ebola clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), paving the way for the first clinical evaluation of vaccines specifically designed to protect against the Bundibugyo virus during an active outbreak.
The candidates, ChAdOx1, developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India, and mRNA-1469, developed by Moderna, were recommended by WHO’s Independent Technical Advisory Group on Candidate Vaccines Prioritisation following an assessment of available preclinical and early clinical evidence.
The two candidates are expected to join the ongoing Tumaini clinical trial, which evaluates multiple vaccines within a single study using a ring-vaccination approach. Under the strategy, people who have had contact with confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease are vaccinated to assess how effectively the candidates prevent further transmission.
The trial is led by the DRC’s Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale, in collaboration with the University of Antwerp and international partners, including WHO, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Support from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has also facilitated the rapid development of the candidates.
The study builds on the ring-vaccination strategy used during the West African Ebola outbreak, which helped establish the effectiveness of Ervebo against the Zaire ebolavirus. Ervebo is already being evaluated in the Tumaini trial for its potential effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus. Four vaccination rings have been established, with more being prepared
WHO’s Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the development as an important demonstration of scientific collaboration, saying the candidates could provide an additional tool for controlling the outbreak.
MEANWHILE, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), in collaboration with Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, has convened a two-day stakeholder dialogue in Abuja to strengthen Nigeria’s Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) surveillance system.
The engagement, organised under the NiCaDe AMR Project, brought together sentinel laboratories, healthcare institutions, academics and development partners to review a decade of AMR surveillance data, identify existing gaps and agree on practical measures to improve monitoring and response.
In a post on X, the NCDC said discussions focused on strengthening laboratory capacity, improving data quality, promoting institutional mentorship and enhancing collaboration across different levels of the healthcare system.
The dialogue also examined ways to improve diagnostic stewardship and the responsible use of antimicrobial medicines, which are critical to addressing the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
According to the agency, participants identified priority actions to guide the development of a national Hub-and-Spoke framework for strengthening AMR surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship across Nigeria.
The proposed model is expected to improve coordination between laboratories and healthcare institutions, strengthen the generation of reliable surveillance data and support evidence-based decisions on patient treatment.
The NCDC reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the evidence base required to inform treatment decisions and address antimicrobial resistance in the country.
