NAIROBI: A vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus will be ready by the end of the year, the Director General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced on Thursday.
The Bundibugyo strain, which is currently driving a major health crisis, has no officially approved vaccine or treatment.
"What we can tell you for sure, by the end of this year, 2026, Africa CDC will make sure that we have a vaccine and medicine against Bundibugyo," Jean Kaseya told reporters in an online briefing. He noted that several candidate vaccines are already being evaluated.
"Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at a technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that it will happen," he added.
Mr. Kaseya also shared that he received a communication from the Russian Ministry of Health claiming to have already developed a vaccine against the virus.
While a team member later clarified that the proposed Russian vaccine targets the Zaire strain of Ebola, upcoming discussions with Moscow's Gamaleya National Research Centre will explore why it might also prove effective against the Bundibugyo variant.