WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has forced health workers rushing to stop transmission, while the rollout of any potential vaccine is months away, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
A WHO representative has said that Ervebo, a vaccine against the Zaire Ebola virus, is under consideration to stop the transmission of the current outbreak, but 'it would take two months for it to be available.'
WHO's representative in DR Congo, Dr Anne Ancia, told reporters in Geneva that there are more than 500 suspected cases including 130 suspected deaths, but that only 30 cases have been confirmed in the country so far.
The UN health agency is working closely with the authorities and rushing more testing kits to eastern DR Congo to identify cases of infection of Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics.
'We have significant uncertainty about the number of infections and how far the virus has spread,' Dr Ancia said.
Speaking from Bunia in Ituri province, where cases were initially detected, Dr Ancia said that the outbreak has also reached North Kivu, with confirmed cases in Butembo and Goma. Uganda has also confirmed two imported cases.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday morning. He has expressed concern about the 'scale and speed of the epidemic'.
Uncertainty still surrounds how and where outbreak started.
Dr Ancia said that there is a focus on the international level on potential candidate vaccines or treatments which could help fight the outbreak.
A WHO technical advisory group met on Tuesday 'to provide further recommendation to the WHO and its Member States on which potential vaccine should be prioritised', she explained.
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