Ebola outbreak in DR Congo: WHO says Ebola vaccine could take nine months

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it could take up to nine months before a vaccine against this particular species of Ebola is ready. Two possible "candidate vaccines" against the Bundibugyo species are being developed, but neither had gone through clinical trials yet, WHO adviser Dr Vasee Moorthy said on Wednesday. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths but numbers were expected to rise given the time taken to detect the virus. Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he said 51 cases had been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo - where the first case was reported - and two in neighbouring Uganda. On Sunday, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, but said it was not at pandemic level. Tedros said that after meeting on Tuesday, the health organisation's emergency committee agreed the situation was "not a pandemic emergency". "WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level," he explained. The 51 cases confirmed in DR Congo are in its eastern Ituri province - the epicentre of the outbreak - as well as North