The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has explained why the continent has yet to find a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola disease.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s programme yesterday, the Director General of the Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, said some partners consider Ebola an African issue, adding that “if this outbreak were in Western countries, vaccines would already be available”.
He, however, said that the agency had initiated clinical trials of new vaccines, including a new Bundibugyo vaccine manufactured in Egypt.
He said unlike the Democratic Republic of Congo’s strain, which caused the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic and has a licensed vaccine, Ervebo, the Bundibugyo strain has no licensed shield.
According to him, the Africa CDC has initiated clinical trials of new vaccines, including a new Bundibugyo vaccine manufactured in Egypt.
He said the current outbreak is the most geographically widespread in history, affecting three regions of Africa, with over 9,500 infections and about 4,600 deaths in DR Congo alone.
Recall that Nigeria confirmed its first case on Tuesday in a woman who arrived from Uganda on October 3, and since then, 44 contacts have been under monitoring.
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