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, head of the Africa CDC, said there were already “some candidates” for a vaccine.
“What we can tell you for sure, by the end of this year, 2026, the Africa CDC will ensure that we have a vaccine and medicine against Bundibugyo,” he told reporters in an online briefing.
“Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at a technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that (the vaccine) will happen,” he added.
Kaseya said he had received a message the previous day from the Russian Ministry of Health claiming that he had already developed a vaccine against the strain.
A member of his team clarified that the proposed vaccine targets the Zaire strain of Ebola and that upcoming discussions with Moscow’s Gamaleya National Research Center will indicate why it might be effective against the Bundibugyo strain.
Kaseya said there had 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 Ebola deaths.
