The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that it could take up to nine months before a vaccine is ready for the current outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus spreading in Central and East Africa.
According to WHO advisor Dr. Vasee Moorthy, two possible candidate vaccines are currently under development, but neither has yet undergone clinical trials, raising concerns about the speed of response to the growing outbreak.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed that there have been about 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 suspected deaths so far.
He explained that the actual numbers could be much higher due to delays in detecting and confirming infections.
The WHO confirmed that 51 Ebola cases have been officially recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the outbreak began, while two confirmed cases have also been identified in neighbouring Uganda.
One of the Ugandan patients reportedly died after travelling from DR Congo.
Despite the alarming figures, the WHO stated that the outbreak has not yet reached pandemic level.
Dr. Tedros said the organization’s emergency committee agreed during a meeting on Tuesday that the situation remains “a public health emergency of international concern” but not a global pandemic emergency.
“WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” he said.
Health authorities say the outbreak is heavily concentrated in Ituri Province in eastern DR Congo, particularly around the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Bunia.
Healthcare workers are reportedly among the victims, increasing concerns about the strain on local health systems.
Medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says hospitals and treatment centres are already overwhelmed.
Emergency programme manager Trish Newport said health facilities are struggling to cope with the growing number of suspected cases.
“We are full of suspect cases. We don’t have any space,” she told AFP.
Although protective equipment has begun arriving in affected areas, some health workers say they are still operating without adequate protection.
The first known Ebola case in the outbreak was reportedly a nurse who developed symptoms and died on April 24 in Bunia before the body was later transported to Mongwalu.
Meanwhile, residents in affected communities say daily life has already changed significantly as people avoid physical contact to reduce the risk of infection.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids and broken skin, often causing severe bleeding, organ failure and death.
