1976: A hitherto unknown disease breaks out near the Ebola river in the country then known as Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This was the first scientifically documented Ebola epidemic. Now, 50 years on, the DRC once again finds itself at the center of a major Ebola outbreak.
This time the pathogen is the less common Bundibugyo type of the genus Orthoebolavirus. The virus was identified in 2007 during an outbreak in Bundibugyo, Uganda. Another outbreak occurred in the DRC in 2012.
How can a virus that has been known for decades continue to infect thousands of people, yet there is still no licensed vaccine or official treatment? Torsten Feldt, a doctor of tropical medicine at Düsseldorf's University Hospital, sees this as a missed opportunity. "We had come across the Bundibugyo virus in two previous outbreaks: 2007 in Uganda and 2012 in DR Congo.
So we had enough time to develop vaccines and therapeutic options. But we didn't make use of this opportunity, meaning crucial time was lost during the current outbreak." Leonie Mayer from the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) and the Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development at the University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf agrees. "They could of course have developed a vaccine and run pre-clinical trials before," Mayer told DW.
She stressed, however, that their effectiveness can only be assessed and confirmed during an actual outbreak. Mayer is the lead author of a recently published study that examined whether Ervebo, an Ebola vaccine that has already been licensed, can be used against other types of Ebola as well. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video From an immunological point of view, and compared to — for example — influenza or HIV, Ebola is a very worthwhile candidate for a vaccine.
Influenza viruses are constantly mutating, and the human immunodeficiency virus is particularly good at evading our immune defenses. Ebola is far more predictable. "I think — and perhaps it's kind of a blessing in disguise — that it will be relatively straightforward to develop a vaccine against Bundibugyo," says Mayer.
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