advancing vaccine development: harnessing multiple antigenic epitopes for crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever in humans and animals

The project aims to develop a multivalent vaccine for Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), one of the most severe zoonotic viral diseases that has caused outbreaks in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and has accounts for a global mortality of up to 11%. Currently, there are no specific antiviral drugs or approved vaccines available for the disease. The proposed project will be executed in the following steps: i) designing the immunogens to be used in the construction of the vaccine candidate, ii) construction of the adenovector CCHFV candidate, which will be done by conjugating the constructed immunogens into the adenovector backbone iii) conducting preclinical studies in mice and non-human primates. The Chimpanzee Adeno vector to be used in this project was characterised and developed in Uganda and validated using previously characterized Canine Advenovector 2 (CAV2), and hAd5 backbones. The developed vaccine candidate will also be validated using the same reference CAV2 and hAD5 backbones which will be conjugated with the vaccine construct to enable the validation. It is hoped that the vaccine will be effective in both humans and animals, (which serve as reservoirs for CCHF virus). The project uses the One Health concept by targeting infections in both humans and animals and contributes to global health security efforts by enhancing preparedness and response capabilities for emerging infectious diseases. The project will be implemented at UVRI and its onsite partner, MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit together with other local and international collaborators. The unit has made significant contributions to understanding the transmission cycles of various viruses of public health importance, including yellow fever virus, Chikungunya, Onyongnyong, Zika, West Nile and Sindbisviruses, among others. UVRI is the national viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) reference laboratory for surveillance and diagnosis of VHF in Uganda and neighbouring countries. In this capacity, the institute plays a key role in the response and control of VHF outbreaks in the region. In addition, UVRI has developed expertise in adeno-based vaccine development for COVID 19 funded by the government of Uganda.