International health experts meet in search for Ebola Bundibugyo vaccine options

A panel of experts led by the World Health Organization will meet on Tuesday to discuss if there are any vaccine options to help tackle a major Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

There have been 131 suspected deaths and 500 cases linked to the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, according to the WHO. The WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have both declared it a public health emergency.

There are no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has a fatality rate of up to 40%.

However, there is a vaccine named Ervebo, manufactured by Merck MRK.N, that is used for the Ebola Zaire strain but has shown evidence of providing some protection against Bundibugyo in animal studies. The potential for testing this and other options will be on the agenda.

"When you have an outbreak with a strain that does not have countermeasures, we are going to advise on the best approach to take," said Dr Mosoka Fallah, acting director of the science department at Africa CDC. "We will look at what evidence we have and make a decision."

-Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Editing by Aidan Lewis/Reuters