Kinshasa, September 19 (QNA) - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have launched a vaccination campaign for health workers and frontline workers in the city of Bunia, using the Ervebo vaccine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.

Health authorities said Saturday that the campaign targets Bunia and Mongbwalu, two of the areas hardest hit by the virus, and is expected to cover 20,000 frontline workers in Ituri and North Kivu provinces over a period of six to nine months.

The military governor of Ituri Province, Gaby Kasongo Mulumba, said the workers are being prioritized because of their heightened exposure to the risk of infection and their direct involvement in responding to the outbreak.

The Ervebo vaccine is licensed to prevent disease caused by the Zaire ebolavirus and has been proven effective against the Zaire strain of Ebola. However, its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus causing the current outbreak remains under study, Mulumba added.

He noted that there is currently no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for the virus causing the current outbreak.

The official in charge of the health response in the DRC, Prof. Steve Ahuka, said the vaccine's effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus remains unknown.

According to the latest figures released by the Congolese National Institute of Public Health, the country has recorded 7,541 confirmed cases, including 3,639 deaths, accounting for about 48.3% of the recorded cases. A total of 1,823 patients have recovered, with the outbreak spreading to seven provinces.

The outbreak began in Ituri Province and was officially declared in mid-May, becoming the deadliest Ebola outbreak the country has experienced.

  The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in August that it had allocated 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine to the DRC, including 50,000 doses for health workers and frontline workers and 20,000 doses for a clinical trial to study the level of protection the vaccine provides against the Bundibugyo virus.

The vaccine had already begun to be used last month in the city of Kisangani in Tshopo Province, as part of a campaign scheduled to cover 14 health zones in Tshopo, Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele provinces.

According to the Congolese National Institute of Public Health, more than 3,000 people in Tshopo Province and more than 700 people in Bas-Uele Province have already received the vaccine. (QNA)