Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak re-emergence regulation in East Africa: preparedness and vaccination perspective

Abstract

Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), Bundibugyo ebolavirus, Taï Forest ebolavirus, and Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) are the most potentially life-threatening and grievous species reported among the Ebolavirus genus. Previously, the most common cases pointed to EBOV as the primary causative agent of Ebolavirus epidemics and fatalities. From 2013 to 2016, a devastating EBOV outbreak in West Africa resulted in 29,000 illness cases, prompting WHO global member countries to prioritise vaccine candidates in the early stages of development. The impending spread of EBOV in Guinea, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo highlighted the ongoing need for secure and effective vaccine programmes against emerging infections using the most secure deployment precautions and methodologies. The West Africa outbreak and all current outbreaks in other countries have been prevented through the effective immunisation of healthy individuals through vaccination and their interactions with identified patients, medical practitioners, and frontline emergency professionals. Despite the fact that EBOV outbreaks previously only infected a small percentage of the global population, they have occasionally caused widespread suffering and huge economic costs in endemic countries. Reported transmission of such viruses beyond nonendemic zones in conjunction with the bioweapon potentiality of ebolaviruses necessitates the discovery and production of EBOV vaccines globally.