The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, has blamed what he described as a lack of international interest in the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola for the absence of an approved vaccine against the disease.
Kaseya argued that the situation might have been different if the outbreak were affecting Western countries, stressing that the strain had not received sufficient global attention.
“If this outbreak was in Western countries, vaccine would already be available,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.
He explained that the Bundibugyo strain had received less attention partly because it had caused fewer outbreaks than the Zaire strain, which has been responsible for more than 16 outbreaks.
“Why this vaccine today is not available? Because some of our partners, they decided to consider this issue as an African issue, they were not interested,” he said.
Kaseya said the Africa CDC had decided to take a more active role in addressing the gap, including supporting clinical trials of potential vaccines.
He disclosed that an African manufacturer in Egypt was conducting clinical trials of a vaccine candidate against the Bundibugyo strain.
The agency was also working with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda to facilitate clinical trials and compassionate use of Ervebo, a vaccine developed against the Zaire strain, he added.
Kaseya said the initiatives formed part of broader efforts to prevent Africa from being left behind in the development and production of vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools.
“We don’t want to see again Africa left behind. We have the knowledge, we have people with intelligence, we have capacity to manufacture vaccine. We need to move on,” he said.
He maintained that the current outbreak should lead to lasting changes in the way African countries prepare for public health emergencies, including increased local vaccine manufacturing, improved coordination among international partners and greater domestic funding.
Kaseya also disclosed that 28 African countries had contributed funds towards the response, describing their participation as a sign of changing attitudes towards financing the continent’s health emergencies.
“This is the first time I saw 28 African countries coming to provide funding to support the response, more than 50 per cent of African countries,” he said.
He added, “After Ebola, Bundibugyo will not be like before Bundibugyo,” referring to efforts to build stronger African capacity to develop vaccines and respond to future outbreaks.
Nigeria confirmed its first imported case of Bundibugyo Ebola in the Federal Capital Territory on 20 October 2026. The patient, a woman with a recent travel history to Uganda, was placed in isolation and received medical care, while health authorities identified 44 contacts for monitoring. Investigations into the source of her infection and efforts to prevent further transmission are ongoing.
