The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Sunday that increased recovery rates are anticipated due to early diagnosis and access to treatment, as efforts to combat the Ebola outbreak intensify. According to the WHO, a total of five individuals have now recovered from the virus. A laboratory worker was also discharged on Thursday.
This development has been welcomed as the fight against the Ebola outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, escalates. The struggle continues against this virus, for which there is no licensed vaccine or cure, and which the WHO describes as a disease that can be contracted while caring for someone.
As of Sunday, the country had reported 210 confirmed cases and 17 confirmed deaths. Approximately 350 suspected cases are under investigation, and 16 health workers have contracted Ebola in this latest outbreak.
Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, essential response measures have been implemented, including laboratory testing, disease surveillance, infection prevention and control, community engagement, and resource mobilization.
In Bunia, the capital of Ituri province and the likely epicenter of the outbreak, the WHO has handed over a renovated Ebola Treatment Centre to health authorities. The facility has a 24-bed capacity, expandable to a total of 60 beds. The WHO is also establishing an additional 42-bed unit.
The effort to control the outbreak is complicated by the challenging humanitarian situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where decades of conflict have left 1.2 million people in need of assistance in Ituri alone. Virus transmission is concentrated in Ituri, as well as in North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
Treatments Under Development
While there is no licensed vaccine or cure for the Bundibugyo virus that causes Ebola, WHO advisory groups have deemed several candidate treatments and vaccines “promising enough” to warrant prioritization for evaluation in clinical trials.
The WHO’s role is to facilitate this in collaboration with health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
For confirmed cases, three candidate therapeutics have been prioritized for clinical trials: the monoclonal antibodies MBP 134 and maftivimab, and the antiviral remdesivir.
For prevention, the oral antiviral obeldesivir is being prioritized as part of a clinical study for post-exposure prophylaxis for individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases.
According to the WHO, two candidate vaccines have been identified for evaluation once doses become available.
Call for Solidarity from Tedros
Meanwhile, the organization highlighted the crucial role of community engagement in ending the transmission of the virus, which has a mortality rate ranging from 30% to 50%.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in Bunia over the weekend, “Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus is survivable with good medical care, and some people in Ituri have already recovered. Seeking care early makes a big difference. It is not hopeless.”
In an update on Friday, the WHO emphasized that the outbreak in both the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda was “rapidly evolving with increasing case numbers, geographical spread, and ongoing cross-border transmission.” An additional confirmed case of a US national treating patients in the DRC is continuing treatment in Germany.
