International health organizations are accelerating efforts to develop a vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola amid rising deaths and fears the outbreak is spreading beyond containment zones in Central Africa.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
An international vaccine development coalition says it is racing to produce a vaccine candidate within 100 days as a growing Ebola outbreak spreads through parts of Central Africa, prompting heightened global health concerns and emergency declarations.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, known as CEPI, announced it is evaluating possible vaccine candidates targeting the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a variant for which no approved vaccine currently exists.
CEPI, which funds vaccine development programs worldwide, said the accelerating outbreak has created urgent pressure for rapid research and deployment efforts. The organization is coordinating with international health agencies and vaccine developers as confirmed and suspected cases continue climbing in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda.
According to a statement from Gavi, CEPI has begun assessing multiple potential vaccine pathways for the Bundibugyo strain.
Jane Halton, chair of CEPI’s board, warned that official case numbers may significantly understate the scale of the outbreak.
“I can guarantee you that we will be in a position to respond faster than we would have been five years ago,” Halton told reporters in Geneva.
“Will we achieve it in 100 days? Possibly, it’s a big lift,” she said. “We are now into the many hundreds of cases and hundreds of deaths, but the truth of the matter is that real numbers are much bigger than that.”
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern over the weekend as infections continued spreading through eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to health ministry figures published Thursday by the Congolese government, the outbreak has produced 670 suspected cases and 160 suspected deaths so far. Officials have confirmed 61 Ebola infections through laboratory testing.
The outbreak has also crossed into neighboring Uganda, where two confirmed cases have now been identified.
Health officials are increasingly concerned about the virus spreading into rebel-controlled areas of eastern Congo, where ongoing conflict, displacement, and limited medical infrastructure could complicate containment efforts.
The outbreak follows other recent viral emergencies across Africa, including the spread of the Marburg virus in Rwanda during 2024. Marburg is an Ebola-like hemorrhagic fever virus known for high fatality rates and rapid transmission.
Ebola was first identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo and is believed to have originated in bats before spreading to humans.
The disease is transmitted primarily through direct contact with bodily fluids from infected individuals or contaminated materials. Symptoms commonly include fever, severe fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and internal or external bleeding.
Global health agencies have increasingly emphasized rapid vaccine development strategies following lessons learned during previous pandemics and Ebola outbreaks.
CEPI has become one of the leading organizations behind the “100 Days Mission,” an international initiative aimed at dramatically shortening vaccine development timelines for emerging infectious diseases.
Health authorities continue monitoring the outbreak closely as containment efforts expand across affected regions.
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