No vaccine or treatment currently exists for the Bundibugyo Ebola strain
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda are facing an unprecedented deadly outbreak of a rare Ebola virus strain, with public health officials – including in the EU – rushing to find a vaccine.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization’s chief said he was concerned over the “scale and speed” of the contagious haemorrhagic fever, which has killed an estimated 131 people.
“This epidemic is caused by Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics,” explained Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The strain has a fatality rate of up to 50%, and the WHO recently declared it a global health emergency.
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