The number of cases linked to an ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo would be much larger if the country was not using Merck's experimental vaccine to contain the outbreak, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, director-general of the World Health Organization, told STAT Jan. 3.
Congo is vaccinating healthcare workers, other frontline responders and known contacts of Ebola patients to prevent the virus' spread. The country has vaccinated 54,153 people against Ebola since the outbreak began in August 2018.
"One thing I am really certain of now is: If it wasn't for the vaccine we're using, the number of cases we have could have been really high, high, high," Dr. Ghebreyesus told STAT.
As of Dec. 31, health officials reported 602 Ebola cases linked to the outbreak, making it the country's second worst Ebola outbreak in history.