The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has explained why no approved vaccine is currently available for the Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
The Director-General of Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, alleging that the lack of vaccines reflects how international partners view Ebola as an African problem.
“If this outbreak was in Western countries, vaccines would already be available,” Kaseya said.
The Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak, is a rare strain of Ebola for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment is currently available.
Kaseya explained that, unlike the Zaire strain of Ebola, which has an approved vaccine known as Ervebo, the Bundibugyo strain has no licensed vaccine.
He said Africa CDC had initiated clinical trials of potential vaccines, including a new vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain manufactured in Egypt.
According to him, the outbreak has spread across three African regions, making it one of the most geographically widespread Ebola outbreaks recorded.
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He also cited the scale of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 9,500 infections and approximately 4,600 deaths have been reported, according to the figures he provided.
Nigeria confirmed its first case of the outbreak on Tuesday in a woman who arrived from Uganda on October 3.
Following the confirmation, 44 contacts were placed under monitoring as part of efforts to prevent further transmission of the disease.
