The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has explained the absence of vaccines for the ongoing Ebola outbreak spreading across parts of Africa.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, the Director-General of Africa CDC, Dr Jean Kaseya, attributed the lack of vaccines to what he described as partners’ perception of Ebola as an African problem.
“If this outbreak was in Western countries, vaccines would already be available,” Kaseya said.
According to reports, the outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus, a rare Ebola strain for which no approved vaccine or specific treatment is currently available.
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.