African Union's health agency vows Ebola Bundibugyo vaccine by end of 2026

A vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus will be ready by the end of the year, the head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday.

The Bundibugyo strain of the virus that has caused a major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.

Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, said there were already "some candidates" for a vaccine.

"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," he told reporters in an online briefing.

"Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that (the vaccine) will happen," he added.

Kaseya said he had received a message the previous day from the Russian Ministry of Health claiming to have already developed a vaccine against the strain.

A member of his team clarified that the proposed vaccine targets the Zaire strain of Ebola, and that upcoming discussions with Moscow's Gamaleya National Research Centre would indicate why it may be effective against the Bundibugyo strain.

Kaseya said there had been at least 1,077 suspected cases since the outbreak was declared on May 15, including 246 deaths.

That is slightly higher than the latest figures from the World Health Organization, which has announced 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths.