A vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus could take another nine months to reach the market, according to Dr. Vasi Murthy, an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations' global health security arm.

Dr. Murthy disclosed this on Wednesday (May 20) during a press conference held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.

He stated that development has begun on two potential "candidate vaccines" aimed at halting the spread of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.

However, both vaccines are yet to enter the clinical trial phase. It could take up to nine months to fully manufacture the vaccines and subsequently complete clinical trials.

DRC Outbreak Reaches Near-Epidemic Proportions
Ebola has escalated to near-epidemic levels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Just a day prior on Tuesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a briefing that 139 people in the DRC have died from Ebola-related symptoms, with symptoms identified in another 600 individuals.

Dr. Murthy noted that among those showing symptoms in the DRC, 51 cases have been laboratory-confirmed as Ebola. Additionally, two infections have been confirmed in neighboring Uganda.

Geographic Spread and WHO Response
All 51 confirmed Ebola patients in the DRC are residents of the country's two eastern provinces, Ituri and North Kivu. Meanwhile, the two individuals diagnosed in Uganda reside in the capital city of Kampala.

Following the devastating outbreak in the DRC, the WHO declared a global health emergency on May 17. However, the agency clarified that the current Ebola outbreak has not yet reached the level of a global pandemic.