Ebola Virus Vaccine

The agency upgraded its risk assessment to 'very high' in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 deaths from the disease

The head of the World Health Organisation says the Ebola outbreak in Congo is "spreading rapidly" and now poses a "very high" risk at the national level. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said Friday the UN health agency was revising upward to "very high" its assessment of the risk within Congo, which had previously been deemed as high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels, he told reporters. The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, "but we know the epidemic in DRC is much larger." He said there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths. The situation in neighbouring Uganda is "stable" with two cases confirmed in people who had travelled from Congo, with one death.

Population growth, climate change and rising human contact with wildlife are fuelling spread of animal-borne diseases like Ebola, though improved detection methods may explain some increase in cases

First confirmed death took place April 20, and experts used social media posts to reconstruct the recent progress of the virus after the super-spreader event on May 5

The analysis, based on case data collected through Saturday, found the outbreak was likely substantially larger than officially detected

At least 131 deaths and over 500 suspected cases have been reported in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, the Congolese health ministry said Tuesday as details emerged about the government's delayed response. Samuel Roger Kamba, the minister of public health, said: "513 suspected cases and 131 deaths have been recorded in the affected areas." "These are suspected deaths, and investigations are underway to determine which ones are actually linked to the disease." The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time that the Bundibugyo virus has been detected. Cases have now been confirmed in Bunia, North Kivu's

About 350 suspected cases and 91 deaths have been reported in northeastern Congo, the country's health minister Roger Kamba said on Sunday

About 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths have been reported mainly in Mongbwalu and Rwampara health zones in Ituri province, near the Ugandan border, in Democratic Republic of Congo

More than 80 cases and rising deaths have been confirmed in Kasai Province of Congo, with limited resources and remote villages testing response efforts

The consortium is developing or designing a new vaccine concept that confers highly cross-reactive protection against numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 169.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 3.52 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday officially declared the end of the 12th Ebola outbreak, which killed six people in its eastern province of North Kivu

The World Health Organisation and partners said on Tuesday they are creating a global stockpile of Ebola vaccines to help stamp out future outbreaks

Lakshmi Mittal said, "This year has been a wake-up call to the world to be better prepared for pandemics, which, as we have all experienced, can cause massive social and economic disruption."

Social media messaging has its positives but, being far faster than traditional ways of communication, it can be used to spread destructive falsehoods and distortions

More than 96 percent of people offered the Merck vaccination take it, and some 4,600 doses have been administered