Moscow/Cape Town, May 27 (IANS) Russia has announced that its scientists have developed a new vaccine for the new strain of the Ebola virus linked to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Russian Embassy in South Africa took to social media ‘X’ on Tuesday (local time) and said, “Russian scientists have developed a vaccine against a new Ebola strain, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko announced. According to the Russian scientists, the vaccine may also protect against the rare Bundibugyo strain linked to the outbreak in the DRC.”

Earlier on May 25, the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in the DRC has caused 220 suspected deaths, as health officials struggle to catch up with the epidemic.

While 101 confirmed cases and 10 confirmed deaths have been recorded, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said the true scale is far larger.

“There are now more than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths,” Tedros had said at the Virtual Ministerial Briefing on the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak on Monday.

The outbreak, declared as a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, has also spread to Uganda, which has five confirmed cases and one death.

On Tuesday, DR Congo Health Minister Roger Kamba announced that the Ebola outbreak remained at an early stage, but infections and deaths continue to rise.

Health authorities have identified around 1,000 suspected cases in affected areas, of which 101 have tested positive, Kamba told a press conference.

The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which Kamba described as less lethal than the Zaire strain but still dangerous if infections continue to rise. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment for Bundibugyo Ebola.

According to the WHO, Ebola disease is a severe, often fatal illness affecting humans and other primates.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals (such as fruit bats, porcupines and non-human primates) and then spreads in the human population through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.

The average Ebola disease case fatality rate is around 50 per cent. Case fatality rates have varied from 25 to 90 per cent in past outbreaks.

The first Ebola disease outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests.

The 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It also spread between countries, starting in Guinea, then moving across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.

–IANS

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