A vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus will be ready by the end of the year, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Thursday.
The Bundibugyo strain of the virus that has caused a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa CDC, said there were already “a few candidates” for a vaccine.
“What we can tell you with certainty is that by the end of this year 2026, the Africa CDC will ensure that we have a vaccine and a medicine for Bundibugyo,” he told reporters during an online press briefing.
“Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at the technical level, at the strategic level, to ensure that (the vaccine) will happen,” he added.
Kaseya said he received a message from the Russian Health Ministry the day before claiming to have already developed a vaccine against the strain.
A member of his team said the proposed vaccine targets the Zaire strain of Ebola and that upcoming discussions with the Gamaleya National Research Center in Moscow would indicate why it might be effective against the Bundibugyo strain.
Kaseya said there have been at least 1,077 suspected cases since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths.
That’s slightly higher than the latest figures from the World Health Organization, which announced 10 confirmed and 223 suspected deaths from Ebola.
