On Oct. 12, 2024, the Sabin Vaccine Institute announced it had delivered a second shipment of ~1000 more investigational vaccines to Kigali for the Marburg outbreak. Rwadndan authorities began vaccinating frontline health care workers in an open-label study the day after the first batch of Sabin’s ~700 vaccines landed Oct. 5.

The initial shipment of approximately 700 vaccine doses was used in a trial targeting frontline workers, including healthcare professionals who have been hardest hit by the deadly virus. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or treatments for Marburg, which has a mortality rate of up to 88%. Rwanda declared the Marburg outbreak on September 27, and as of October 5, it had infected 46 people and claimed 12 lives.