There are two potential “candidate vaccines” in development, World Health Organization advisor Dr. Vasee Moorthy said at a May 20 press conference, per the BBC.<\/a> However, none of the potential vaccines have gone through clinical trials yet.<\/p>\n Although one of the vaccines is “promising,” Dr. Moorthy said it is “likely to take six to nine months” before the vaccine is ready.<\/p>\n Stock image of a scientist working in a lab The current Ebola<\/a> outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is spreading faster<\/a> than officials originally expected, as experts race to contain the fatal disease that has, as of May 20, killed at least 139 people and infected at least 600.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected,\u201d WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the press conference<\/a>. Officials said this current outbreak may have started “a couple of months ago,” pushed along by a “super-spreader event” like a funeral in early May, per the The Guardian<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ebola is caused by a collection of viruses called orthoebolaviruses. The Bundibugyo strain is a relatively rare strain of the virus, as NPR<\/a> reports, and isn’t always included in standard testing for Ebola. This may have led to delays in identifying early Ebola cases in this outbreak.<\/p>\n Symptoms<\/a> can appear as late as 21 days after contact with an infected person, and begin with what are called “dry” symptoms of Ebola, like fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches and fatigue. The disease then progresses to the “wet” symptoms, which, along with vomiting and diarrhea, include bleeding from the eyes, mouth, nose and rectum.<\/p>\n Health workers at an Ebola center in Congo on May 19, 2026 The virus spreads<\/a> through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person \u2014 alive or dead. But as Johns Hopkins Medicine<\/a> explains, it can also spread by touching items, like clothing or bedsheets, that have been in contact with body fluids. In response, the World Health Organization<\/a> has outlined stringent guidelines for disinfecting and disposing of anything that’s been in contact with an infected person.<\/p>\n![\"Stock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/864bf9f9134ceec05093cbbf71a44a05.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Credit: Getty<\/p>\n![\"Health](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8acecf229a364a6c227d7cd15590eaa6.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Credit: AP Photo\/Dirole Lotsima Dieudonne<\/p>\n