The media is reporting on the “good news” about the Ebola outbreak this week. The first piece of good news is that three new vaccine candidates are being “fast-tracked” to create one that will work well in a short amount of time.
Authorities also said that they have downgraded both the confirmed number of cases and deaths in the region affected, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the second piece of “good news.”
First, we heard there’s new funding of up to US$62 million to fast-track the development of vaccine candidates against the type of virus circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring Uganda.
As of June 2nd local time, DRC health authorities reported 344 confirmed cases, including 60 confirmed related deaths. Uganda has reported 15 confirmed cases, including one death. Previously, suspected cases in the region were more than 1,000. –Science Alert
There are currently only two approved Ebola vaccines. One is Ervebo, the other Zabdeno/Mvabea. However, neither is effective against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola that’s circulating in Africa. Different types of Ebola viruses have different surface proteins that the vaccine targets. This means existing vaccines against the Zaire virus aren’t effective enough to be used against the Bundibugyo virus.
The outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus was confirmed on May 15th. As of June 2nd, there have been 378 confirmed cases and 63 confirmed deaths, with the majority of cases (363) in the DRC and 15 in Uganda. The virus is spreading rapidly; however, not much has been reported on the possibility of a new vaccine until now.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most promising vaccine candidate is a single-dose vaccine that’s being developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (or IAVI) along with the University of Texas Medical Branch. It uses a similar approach to the already approved Ervebo vaccine.
Moderna also has an mRNA-based vaccine in development. It is said to target the surface glycoprotein of the Bundibugyo virus. This new funding to create a vaccine could be good for Moderna, which has struggled as COVID-19 has fallen to all but non-existent status.
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The third candidate is being developed by the University of Oxford and Serum Institute of India. It’s based on essentially the same technology used in the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID vaccine.
Until a vaccine is approved, authorities say the best way to reduce the spread of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola is containment, tracking, and tracing policies.