Ebola Outbreak

• Frontline medics warn that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could take another six months to bring under control. • The WHO's Africa response lead has critically rated containment efforts as a 3-4 out of 10, highlighting significant lags in the response. • Separately, the FDA approved Capvaxive on June 18, 2026, for children aged 2-17 with chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

• The current Ebola outbreak in Bundibugyo shows a death rate of 26%, which is significantly lower than the 40-70% fatality rate recorded during the 2014–16 West Africa epidemic. • In other health news, the FDA approved Capvaxive on June 18, 2026, for children aged 2-17 with chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. • On June 17, the federal government announced $223.1 million in funding for CCBHC community mental health clinics to improve care access and reduce emergency room visits.

• Biotech companies including Soligenix, Moderna, Regeneron, and Aethlon Medical are accelerating the development of vaccines and therapeutics to combat a global outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus in 2026. • Regeneron's maftivimab, a potent antibody found in the FDA-approved Inmazeb, has been recommended by the WHO's Therapeutics Advisory Group for use in clinical trials. • Aethlon Medical (Nasdaq:AEMD) is preparing to coordinate with global health authorities to deploy its Hemopurifier device as part of the medical response.

• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that clinical trials for two experimental drugs will launch next week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. • The trials will evaluate whether the antivirals MBP134 and remdesivir, provided via donations from the United States and Gilead Sciences, can reduce mortality rates. • This intervention is critical because the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola currently has no approved vaccines or therapeutics, and this is only the third such outbreak in history.

• The U.S. government has provided doses of an experimental antibody drug developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical to combat the Ebola outbreak in the Congo. • This decision marks a shift in policy, as the U.S. previously stated the treatment would only be available to high-risk American citizens. • The provision of these doses allows for the drug to be used in clinical trials, accelerating the process of determining its efficacy against the virus.

A clinical trial testing two drugs against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which is driving a fast-moving outbreak in Central Africa, is set to begin next week, WHO officials said.

• The head of Africa's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Tuesday, June 16, that the current Ebola outbreak in Congo could become the worst on record. • A critical failure in containment has occurred, with tens of thousands of individuals who were in contact with infected patients remaining untraced. • This lack of contact tracing significantly increases the risk of uncontrolled community transmission and a larger-scale health crisis.