The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr Jean Kaseya, has blamed international neglect for the absence of an approved vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, arguing that the response to the disease would likely have been different if outbreaks had occurred in Western countries.
Kaseya said the limited global interest in the strain had slowed vaccine development, leaving African countries to confront outbreaks without an approved vaccine specifically targeting the virus.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, October 22, he criticised what he described as the tendency of international partners to treat the disease as an exclusively African concern.
“If this outbreak was in Western countries, vaccine would already be available,” Kaseya said.
He added, “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.”
The Africa CDC chief said the situation underscored the need for African countries to strengthen local vaccine development, domestic funding and public health preparedness rather than depend heavily on external support.
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“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.
Kaseya noted that the Bundibugyo strain had recorded fewer outbreaks than the Zaire strain, which has experienced more than 16 outbreaks and has an available vaccine.
He disclosed that Africa CDC was supporting clinical trials of a potential Bundibugyo vaccine developed by an African manufacturer in Egypt.
The agency is also working with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to facilitate access to the Ervebo vaccine, which targets the Zaire strain, for clinical trials and compassionate use.
Kaseya welcomed contributions from 28 African countries towards the current response, describing the support as an important step towards greater continental responsibility.
“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.
Nigeria confirmed an imported Bundibugyo Ebola case in Abuja on October 20, involving a woman who had recently travelled from Uganda. Authorities identified 44 contacts for monitoring as part of containment efforts.