Kenya asks for 10,000 Ebola vaccine doses, but no vaccine is approved for the Bundibugyo strain

Kenya has asked for 10,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine, but no vaccine is approved for the Bundibugyo strain behind its outbreak. WHO's Ebola fact sheet lists two approved vaccines, Ervebo (Merck & Co.) and Zabdeno with Mvabea (Janssen Pharmaceutica), for Ebola virus disease, and says there is no approved vaccine or treatment for other Ebola diseases such as Bundibugyo virus disease. Ervebo is a vaccine against Zaire ebolavirus, a different Ebola virus. WHO's vaccine advisers have backed a Phase III ring-vaccination trial to find out whether it works against Bundibugyo.

The Star reported on 23 October 2026 that Dr Patrick Amoth, Director-General for Health, said Kenya's request is for 10,000 doses, with health workers first. The paper said the vaccine is likely Ervebo, and that WHO says there is not enough evidence that it protects people against Bundibugyo, so it recommends the vaccine against this strain only under a research protocol.

A vaccine trains the body to make antibodies, proteins that latch on to one particular virus. Antibodies made against one Ebola virus can sometimes also bind a related one, which scientists call cross-reacting.

Whether Ervebo does this against Bundibugyo is what WHO's Technical Advisory Group on Candidate Vaccines Prioritization (TAG-CVP) examined when it met on 31 July 2026, according to the trade site Clinical Trials Arena on 10 August. The panel relied on research papers and preclinical studies of Ervebo, meaning laboratory and animal work. Four studies cited in the article showed a low level of cross-reacting binding antibodies to Bundibugyo after Ervebo. Some of the research was not peer-reviewed, and some used research-grade material rather than the licensed vaccine.

Apart from one dissenting member, the panel backed putting Ervebo into a Phase III trial. It said the vaccine could skip a Phase II study because data on its safety and immune response already exist. Panellists cautioned that protection against symptomatic disease and against transmission may not be high, though protection against death may be achieved.

The trial would use ring vaccination: instead of vaccinating a whole population, teams vaccinate the contacts of each new case, and some of their contacts, forming a ring around the patient. WHO describes it as the method used to eradicate smallpox.

Ring vaccination was tested against Ebola in Guinea in 2015. WHO reported in December 2016 that 11,841 people took part, in 117 rings averaging 80 people. Rings were initially randomised to be vaccinated at once or after a three-week delay. Among the 5,837 people vaccinated, no Ebola cases were recorded 10 days or more after vaccination; among those who did not receive the vaccine, there were 23.

For Bundibugyo, Ervebo is being given in a research study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). WHO's Africa office said on 23 October 2026 that health authorities in Haut-Uele province began vaccinating frontline workers with Ervebo "for research purposes", and that more than 9,000 workers have been vaccinated as part of the study nationally. Its effectiveness against Bundibugyo is still under investigation. As of 19 October the province had recorded 421 confirmed cases, including 180 deaths.

In Kenya, the Ministry of Health said on 20 October that confirmed infections had reached nine, all in one known cluster, the Kenyan news site Kenyans.co.ke reported. The Star said on 23 October that one person has died and eight others are infected, treated at Kenyatta National Hospital and Nairobi Hospital. Amoth said the patients are stable and that 135 contacts were listed and all accounted for. No licensed treatment exists for Bundibugyo; patients received the monoclonal antibody NB 134, then remdesivir, on a compassionate basis.

On 6 October 2026 the Ministry of Health advised the public to wash hands frequently or use alcohol-based sanitiser, avoid close contact with sick people arriving from countries reporting active transmission, seek treatment at recognised health facilities when unwell and report suspected cases to the nearest facility, the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital reported. Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said at a press conference in Nairobi that day: "I wish to reassure the public not to panic, as all systems are in place to mitigate the spread of the disease." The ministry's toll-free line for updates is 719.

The Health Ministry said the first group of contacts, quarantined from 6 October, will begin leaving after 21 days without symptoms, and that others are expected to be released the following week.