DR Congo receives 70,000 Ebola vaccine doses as Bundibugyo outbreak spreads

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine from the UN's international vaccine coordination group (ICG) to protect frontline communities against the Ebola virus disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Report informs.

The Ervebo vaccine was initially developed to target the Zaire ebolavirus, which caused the 2014-2016 West African epidemic - the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.

The shipment is going ahead following approval from the ICG after the Government in Kinshasa requested doses from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile last week.

Earlier this week, the Ebola outbreak, declared 15 May, became the country's deadliest on record with 2,325 deaths.

Although local authorities haven't updated the figure since Monday, the total number of cases climbed to 5,021 according to data released on Wednesday.