The head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Jane Halton said on Monday that she believes the cases identified so far in the Ebola outbreak in Congo represent only the tip of the iceberg and that she cannot say whether it will be possible to develop a safe and effective vaccine within three months, as predicted, Reuters writes, quoted by Focus.
So far, about 600 suspected Ebola cases have been recorded in Congo, and more than 130 have died from the disease, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a state of emergency, the agency emphasizes.
''I described this outbreak as an iceberg – "We've seen the tip of the iceberg, and the closer we get to it, the more we see that it's quite large," said Jane Halton, chair of the board of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. "We have hundreds of cases and hundreds of deaths right now, but the truth is that the real numbers are much higher than that," she told a briefing at the ACANU Press Club in Geneva. "CEPI, which is funding the development of new vaccines and is testing potential Ebola candidates, has set a goal of having a safe and effective vaccine for large outbreaks within 100 days." "It's probably a big challenge," Halton said when asked if that goal was achievable, adding: "I can to guarantee you that we will be able to respond faster than we could five years ago.''
FOCUS recalls that a few days ago, the WHO activated its second highest international alert level in response to the Ebola epidemic, caused by a highly lethal strain for which there is no vaccine, and which has severely affected the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).