Vaccine to tackle Ebola outbreak will take six to nine months, says WHO

Suspected Bundibugyo virus cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda rose to 600, with 139 deaths reported and more expected. Vaccine doses for the most promising candidate will not be available for six to nine months. The outbreak may have begun a couple of months earlier, potentially aided by a super-spreader event such as a funeral in early May. Armed conflict in Ituri province has displaced more than 100,000 people, complicating detection and surveillance. Health facilities have struggled to provide care when health workers flee. Malaria and typhoid share early symptoms with Ebola, delaying diagnosis. WHO support is described as complementing country responsibilities under international health regulations.

"Doses of the most promising potential vaccine against the Bundibugyo virus that is causing an Ebola outbreak in central Africa will not be available for six to nine months, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, as the number of suspected cases rose to 600. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, told a press briefing on the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, that there had been 139 deaths, with numbers expected to rise."

"Officials said they believe the disease may have started its spread a couple of months ago, aided by a super-spreader event, possibly a funeral, in early May. The security situation in Ituri province, where more than 100,000 people have been displaced in recent months because of armed conflict, had complicated detection efforts, Tedros said. Health facilities could not provide care or surveillance for disease outbreaks if health workers were fleeing, he said."

"Other illnesses endemic to the region, such as malaria and typhoid, have the same early symptoms as Ebola which can also delay diagnosis, he added. Tedros said criticism of the organisation by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who said the WHO had declared the outbreak a little late, was probably based on a lack of understanding. Maybe on what the secretary said, it could be from a lack of understanding of how IHR [international health regulations] works, and the responsibilities of WHO and other entities."

"Dr Vasee Moorthy, who leads the WHO's research and development blueprint, said the most promising potential vaccine against Bundibugyo uses the same basis as Ebola vaccines that target the Zaire strain. There are no doses of this which are currently available for clinical trial The information that we have is this is likely to take six to nine months, he said. Doses of an alternative, whic"

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