More than 60 thousand traders in eastern DR Congo who cross the border regularly into Rwanda and Uganda are to be vaccinated to curb an Ebola outbreak.
Cases recorded recently in the Congolese trading hub of Goma, which is on Rwanda’s border have raised concerns of cross-border spread.
According to the co-ordinator of the Ebola response in DR Congo Jean Muyembe, the health authorities in Rwanda have also ordered hundred thousand doses of the vaccine for a similar campaign targeting traders.
Over the last month, Rwandan border officials have been limiting the number of traders they allow into Goma each day.
It is not clear when the mass vaccination campaign will start. Dr Muyembe said after vaccinating cross-border traders, response teams would then expand vaccination to villages where Ebola cases are confirmed.
The experimental vaccine to be used is backed by several international health experts, including the WHO, but has sparked some controversy in DR Congo.
