The WHO backed trials of two Bundibugyo-specific vaccine candidates, from Oxford with the Serum Institute of India and from Moderna. The outbreak has killed more than 5,300 people, with 5,103 deaths in the DRC and cases in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. No licensed vaccine or specific treatment exists for the strain. Kenya reported its first imported case on October 6.
The World Health Organization has backed clinical trials of two new Ebola vaccine candidates as health workers battle an outbreak that has killed more than 5,300 people. The candidates were developed for the Bundibugyo virus by the University of Oxford with the Serum Institute of India, and by Moderna. The trial will be led by the DRC’s National Institute for Biomedical Research.
No licensed vaccine or specific treatment exists for Bundibugyo. The outbreak was declared on May 15, 2026, and cases have been reported in the DRC, Uganda, France, Kenya and Nigeria. The DRC remains the epicentre with 5,103 deaths, and countries including Ghana and the United States have restricted travellers from the DRC. A scientific review ranks it as the second-largest Ebola outbreak recorded.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health reported its first confirmed imported case on October 6, in a man who travelled from the DRC via Uganda and arrived in Nairobi by air on October 3. As of October 22, Kenya had screened 709,093 travellers and tested 461 samples across five laboratories.
