Rwanda is trialing vaccine doses against the Marburg virus as authorities work to end an outbreak of the deadly virus.

The East African country received 700 doses of a vaccine candidate from the United States-based Sabin Vaccine Institute on Saturday.

“Per the approved protocol, approximately 700 high-risk adults, starting with health care providers, will be dosed at six clinical trial sites in Rwanda,” the institute said in a statement.
The single-dose vaccine is currently in phase two trials in Uganda and Kenya with no current safety concerns, the institute added.

Marburg, a hemorrhagic fever like Ebola, has so far killed 12 people after the outbreak was first declared on September 27.

Rwanda’s health ministry said in its latest virus update on Sunday that there are 49 confirmed cases.

The virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spread between people through close contact with an infected individual’s bodily fluids or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets.