raging wrath
CEPI will also provide $3.2 million to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which is developing a vaccine that uses similar technology to Merck’s approved Ebola vaccine, Ervebo, which targets the more common Zaire ebolavirus strain.
Finally, CEPI is pledging $8.6 million to the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, which is using its adenovirus-based vaccine platform, as it did for its COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
There are currently two licensed vaccines against Ebola disease, including Ervebo and Zbdeno/Mavabia by Johnson & Johnson. Both vaccines target the Zaire strain, which has caused the largest outbreak to date, followed by the Sudan strain. The current outbreak is only the third induced by the Bundibugyo strain. As such, there are currently no licensed treatments or vaccines against it.
The lack of medical intervention is one of the challenges faced by health officials responding to the outbreak. There was a delay in detecting the outbreak, allowing the virus to spread out of control. The disease is also spreading in an area of the DRC with armed conflict, large population mobility and significant need for humanitarian assistance.
As of Friday, the World Health Organization reported 1,041 cases (135 confirmed, 906 suspected) and 241 deaths (18 confirmed, 223 suspected) of the outbreak.
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