The Democratic Republic of Congo began on Sunday a vaccine programme against a fresh Ebola epidemic, which has killed 28 people in the country since late August.

A first load of 400 doses against the disease was handed out in the hotspot town of Bulape, in the central Kasai province, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The last outbreak of Ebola in the vast Central African nation was three years ago and killed six people. Its deadliest, lasting from 2018 to 2020, left 2,300 dead out of 3,500 people known to have been infected.

According to the latest toll from the Congolese health authorities on Sunday, 28 deaths and 81 confirmed cases have been registered since the first confirmed infection of a pregnant 34-year-old woman on August 20.

Priority given to those at risk

The WHO believes the fatality rate from this epidemic, which was declared in early September, to be around 35%.

The first shipment of vaccines was handed out to those most at risk from the virus, including frontline health workers and close contacts of infected people, the WHO statement said.

Delivery of another 45,000 vaccines to the DRC had been approved by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, the United Nations health agency added.

Ebola was first identified in the DRC, then known as Zaire, in 1976.

Deadly disease

In the last half-century, the virus, which is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, has gone on to kill around 15,000 in Africa.

The disease causes severe bleeding and organ failure, with the WHO recording epidemic fatality rates of between 25 and 90%.

Scientists have identified six strains of the Ebola virus, with the Zaire strain believed to be responsible for the latest outbreak.

While there is a vaccine for the Zaire strain, not all of the others are covered by vaccines.