Congo approves use of Ebola vaccine to fight outbreak

Democratic Republic of Congo'shealth ministry has approved the use of a new Ebola vaccine tocounter an outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever in its northeastthat has killed four people, a spokesman said on Monday.

"The non-objection was given. Now there's a Medecins SansFrontiers team that is arriving [in Congo]today to validate theprotocol with the technical teams," Jonathan Simba, a healthministry spokesman, said by telephone.

The experimental vaccine, known as rVSV-ZEBOV, was partially designed by the Canadian government and is being developed by the U.S.-based Merck & Co. It is not yet licensed but was shown to be highlyprotective against Ebola in clinical trials published lastDecember.

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As of Friday, Congo had registered 52 total suspected cases,including two that have been confirmed, the World HealthOrganization spokesman in Congo, Eugene Kabambi, said bytelephone, adding that the situation appears to be undercontrol.

Simba said that the details of the vaccination campaignwould be announced after a meeting of the health ministry andits partners set to take place on Monday or Tuesday.

A vaccination campaign would present logistical challengesin Congo's isolated northeastern forests, including transportingand storing the vaccine in special containers at the requiredminus 80 degrees Celsius.