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Ebola virus outbreak

Russia ready to supply Ebola vaccine to Africa

Russia has developed a vaccine to cure the Ebola fever, which has demonstrated 100% effectiveness during tests on primates, according to the Russian healthcare minister

© Sergei Fadeichev/TASS

SOCHI, October 23. /TASS/. Russia has developed a new vaccine against the Ebola virus and is ready to supply it to Africa after the vaccine is registered, Russian Healthcare Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Wednesday during a session of the Russia-Africa Economic Forum.

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"Besides prevention methods, Russia has developed a unique vaccine to cure the Ebola fever, which has demonstrated 100% effectiveness during tests on primates. Its clinical research is currently being finalized. After this vaccine is registered, Russia will be ready to supply it to African countries," Skvortsova stated.

The minister added that Russia had developed a "dry" form of the vaccine against Ebola, which can be stored in "a regular domestic fridge," taking into account the climate conditions of African states.

The first case of Ebola was registered in 1976 in Zaire, (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in a settlement on the bank of the Ebola River, which gave the disease its name. The viral disease caused by the Ebola virus has a very high death rate. The Ebola epidemic has killed thousands of African residents in the past several years.

The latest major outbreak of Ebola was seen in December 2013 in Guinea, quickly spreading to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia. Cases of Ebola were registered in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, the UK, Italy and the US. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since the start of the epidemic, over 11,000 people died and over 28,500 were infected. In 2017-2018, the first stage of using the Russian vaccine in Guinea took place, with 2,000 people vaccinated.

On October 23-24, the resort city of Sochi is hosting the Russia-Africa Summit, co-chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The leaders of all 54 African countries have been invited to come, and at least 40 of them have already confirmed their participation. Eight major African integration associations and organizations are also involved in the event. On the summit’s sidelines, an economic forum is taking place, as attended by the continent’s heads of state, and representatives of the business community and government agencies. The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the event, and TASS is the official photo host agency of the summit and economic forum.

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