African health authorities have announced plans to use a vaccine originally developed for the Zaire ebolavirus strain to combat the current Ebola outbreak in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which involves a different and rapidly spreading strain known as Bundibugyo.

Jean Kaseya, director general of the African Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC), told reporters in a videoconference on Thursday, August 6th, 2026, that test cases so far indicate the vaccine has been effective in eliminating deaths, though not necessarily symptoms. He stated, "we saw zero deaths among people who are vaccinated."

The Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) are also initiating research to determine whether the virus is mutating or exhibiting other abnormalities, as the current outbreak is spreading six to eight times faster than any previous Ebola outbreak on record.

Kaseya, speaking from Brazzaville in the neighboring Republic of Congo after meeting with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kinshasa, reported that approximately 4,000 cases have been confirmed, up from 3,973 cases as of Tuesday, August 4th. Cases have now been logged in 51 health zones, a significant increase from nine zones in May.

Kaseya quoted Tedros saying, "it's time for the WHO and Africa CDC to conduct studies to check that there is no issue, additional issue, or maybe if the virus is not mutating, because the level of severity of this Bundibugyo outbreak is unprecedented."

For context, during the most virulent and deadly Ebola outbreak on record—the Zaire strain outbreak in DRC between 2018 and 2020—one patient was identified from every 57 contacts identified as being at risk. That outbreak recorded 20 cases with only two deaths.

Sources