Tagged:

Why Is There No Vaccine for the Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak?

The Bundibugyo ebolavirus, one of several species that cause Ebola disease, was first identified in Uganda in 2007.  Nearly two decades later, health economist Mario Jimenez and public health physician Ifeanyi Nsofor ask why health workers are still confronting this deadly pathogen without a licensed vaccine, even as hundreds of suspected infections and dozens of deaths emerge across Central and East Africa.

While they acknowledge the outbreak is unlikely to become another COVID-19 - since Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids - the lesson it offers is no less vital. "It reveals whose health risks attract sustained investment and whose are allowed to remain neglected," the authors wrote. They argue that pathogens do not become priorities based on biological risk alone; "they become priorities because of political attention, financial incentives and public visibility".

InFocus

Joël Lumbala/ WHO

WHO has conducted field visits to Nyankunde, Ituri, to intensify the response to the Ebola outbreak in DR Congo.

Follow AllAfrica

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.