New Ebola vaccine administered to humans for the first time

The vaccine (named ChAdOx1 BDBV) marks a key milestone for the project.

The vaccine was created by the University of Oxford’s Oxford Vaccine Group and Pandemic Sciences Institute, using the same technology as the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

​​The first volunteer in the world, a-37-year-old UK man called Ed Hunt, has received the experimental vaccine against Ebola.

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An ambulance drives past an ebola treatment centre in Bunia, Congo, Monday, July 20, 2026. (Image: AP)

Speaking to the BBC Hunt said he wanted to help after seeing news reports of the outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo.

The clinical trial is funded as part of an $8.6 million programme with the University of Oxford to push forward Bundibugyo vaccine development.

The trial, which will continue to recruit and vaccinate volunteers over the next few weeks, will monitor participants to evaluate both the safety and immune responses elicited by the vaccine.

Dr David Pulido-Gomez, Global Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls lead, Pandemic Sciences Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, highlighted the speed of the vaccine’s development.

He said: “Reaching this milestone in such a short timeframe reflects an extraordinary collaborative effort.”

Dr Peter Skydmore, Lead Study Doctor for the BD-Ebov trial at the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: “Vaccinating the first participants in a first-in-human study is always a significant moment.

“While these are very early days, they represent an important first step in evaluating this vaccine in humans.”

Eligible participants, aged 18 to 55 years, in good health, and able to attend regular face-to-face visits in Oxford, will receive either one dose or two doses of the vaccine, depending on group allocation.

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Workers at an Ebola treatment center go on strike over unpaid salaries and bonuses at Rwampara General Hospital, in Ituri, northeastern Congo, Monday, July 13 (Image: AP)

The trial follows the World Health Organisation’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern after cases of severe fever and death were detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on May 17, 2026.

The outbreak continues to spread rapidly, with at least 80 per cent of new cases emerging from unknown chains of transmission, according to the World Health Organisation.

Many of the newly reported deaths are people who died in their communities without reaching a health facility and without receiving care, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the WHO health emergencies chief, said after returning from Bunia in Ituri, the worst-hit province in the outbreak.

The Bundibugyo virus is primarily carried by fruit bats and can cross over into humans through contact with infected animals.

Once this occurs, it can then spread from person to person through direct contact with infected body fluids.