Oxford University scientists developing new Ebola vaccine to tackle outbreak after 177 dead

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The rare species of Ebola that is currently spreading in the country's eastern region is believed to have killed 177 people according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The strain of the disease, known as Bundibugyo, has no proven vaccine and kills 30-50% of those infected.

Bundibugyo has only caused two previous outbreaks, in Uganda in 2007 and then in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2012, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

On Friday the WHO declared the situation in the DRC “very high” risk as the virus is “spreading rapidly” in the country.

Read more: UK to provide up to £20million for Ebola outbreak after 130 dead

Read more: At least 118 dead in DR Congo Ebola outbreak as cases spread to wider area

Professor Teresa Lambe, Calleva head of vaccine immunology at the OVG, said: “My hope is that this outbreak can be brought under control quickly and that vaccines are ultimately not needed.

“Nevertheless, our team and partners will continue working to ensure that potential vaccine options are available if they are needed.

“The ability to move rapidly in situations like this has been built on many years of vaccine research and close collaboration with our global partners.”

The OVG previously tested Ebola vaccines in response to the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak, which contributed to a different Ebola vaccine being approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2020.

Professor Teresa Lambe, Calleva head of vaccine immunology at the OVG, said: “My hope is that this outbreak can be brought under control quickly and that vaccines are ultimately not needed.

“Nevertheless, our team and partners will continue working to ensure that potential vaccine options are available if they are needed.

“The ability to move rapidly in situations like this has been built on many years of vaccine research and close collaboration with our global partners.”

82 cases have been confirmed in the country, with almost 750 suspected cases, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He said there have been seven confirmed deaths.

In the wider region the risk is now considered to be high but it remains low internationally, according to the WHO.

It comes after the UK agreed to provide up to £20 million as it pitches in to an international effort to contain the virus through support for frontline health workers, improved infection control and disease surveillance.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “It is vital we act now to save lives – outbreaks like Ebola do not stop at borders, and neither can we.”

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has activated its “returning workers scheme” to monitor those travelling from the UK to the area for work, and is assessing routes that travellers use to enter the UK to ensure information on Ebola symptoms is available to those who need it.

Dr Mike Reynolds, incident director at the UKHSA, said the current outbreak was “serious” but posed a “low” risk to the UK population.

He said: “UKHSA continues to monitor and assess the situation closely and the NHS has safe procedures in place for any such cases and specialist centres where they can be looked after.”

Ebola is a rare, highly contagious and often fatal disease generally transmitted via bodily fluids.

Symptoms include a high temperature, extreme tiredness, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain and bleeding.

Outbreaks of the disease occur periodically in Africa, with the most severe taking place in West Africa between 2014 and 2016 and leading to more than 11,000 deaths.

That outbreak also saw three British nationals – two nurses and an aid worker – contract the disease.

All three survived, and there have been no cases of human-to-human transmission in the UK.