Global health authorities warned that the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo shows only a portion of true infections. Confirmed suspected cases number around 600, with an estimated 130 deaths, but real totals are believed to be much higher. Cases have spread to regions far from the outbreak’s origin. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. CEPI described the situation as an iceberg, with many cases hidden below the visible portion. CEPI indicated that potentially safe vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain might be possible within 100 days, but deployment at scale would be difficult. No known vaccines exist for the Bundibugyo strain, unlike the Zaire strain.
"Global health authorities have warned that the number of deadly Ebola virus infections reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) most recent outbreak of the disease represents just a fraction of actual cases, adding that cases spread to regions far from the outbreak's origin. So far, some 600 suspected cases have been confirmed, resulting in an estimated 130 deaths."
"“I have described this outbreak as being like an iceberg. We've seen the top of the iceberg. The top, as we get closer to it, is pretty large.” “We are now into the many hundreds of cases and hundreds of deaths,” Halton told a group of UN-accredited correspondents in Geneva, Switzerland, “but the truth of the matter is that real numbers are much bigger than that.”"
"Pressed on whether CEPI had identified potentially safe vaccines that could be effective against the Bundibugyo strain of the virus and deployed at scale within the next 100 days, she said, “possibly,” adding, “it's a big lift.” Unlike the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, there are no known vaccines to combat the previously less lethal Bundibugyo strain. And although work on a vaccine had begun before the outbreak, Halton said jab-makers are in a “very difficult position.”"
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