With no licensed vaccine currently available to prevent the Ebola virus currently spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, efforts are underway to quickly develop at least three vaccines. But even with the cash injection to fund research, it will likely be several months before clinical trials can begin on a vaccine, especially for the Bundibugyo Ebola virus.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced on Monday that it would provide approximately $62 million in funding to three organizations to support the production and testing of the Bundibugyo vaccine. Merck’s Elvevo, the only approved Ebola vaccine, targets the Zaire Ebola virus.
Bundibugyo virus has rarely caused outbreaks in the past. Epidemics have only been recorded twice in the past, in 2007 and 2012. Because it occurs so infrequently, the development of vaccines and treatments for this particular type of Ebola has lagged behind the development of tools to combat other filoviruses (to which Ebola belongs), such as Sudanese Ebola virus and Marburg.
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