Three separate jab candidates are being developed to target the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has been linked by health bureaucrats to nearly 250 deaths and more than 1,000 suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with confirmed cases also reported in Uganda.
The vaccines are being developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, University of Oxford and Moderna, with funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Existing vaccines for the more common Zaire strain are not effective against the strain present in the Bundibugyo outbreak.
The Oxford candidate could enter clinical trials within two to three months, while IAVI estimates its vaccine could be ready for trials within seven to nine months. All three vaccines use different technologies but are designed to train the immune system to recognise and respond to the Bundibugyo virus.
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