Daijiworld Media Network - Kinshasa
Kinshasa, Aug 5: The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to outpace response efforts, with confirmed cases nearing 3,900 and no proven vaccine or specific treatment available for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the epidemic, health authorities said on Tuesday.
According to the latest report by the DRC's public health authority, the country had recorded 3,874 confirmed cases and 1,751 confirmed deaths as of Monday, with a fatality rate of 45.1 per cent.
The outbreak has spread across 51 health zones in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, Haut-Uele, Tshopo and South Kivu. Ituri remains the worst-affected province, accounting for 87.1 per cent of all confirmed cases.
The report said 30 of the 44 deaths recorded on Monday occurred in communities rather than at Ebola treatment centres. Contact tracing coverage stood at 78.4 per cent, well below the operational target of 95 per cent, indicating gaps in identifying and containing new infections.
Speaking in Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic described the outbreak as the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded in the DRC and called for increased financial and logistical support to expand treatment facilities, field investigation teams, safe burial services and community health workers.
"The outbreak is unfortunately still expanding beyond the capacity of the response," he said.
Vasee Moorthy, acting lead of the WHO Research and Development Blueprint, said there were still no treatments, preventive medicines or vaccines proven to be safe and effective against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus.
However, he noted that several clinical trials were progressing faster than in previous Ebola outbreaks because research protocols had been prepared in advance.
The PARTNERS treatment trial, which is evaluating experimental therapies for Ebola patients, is currently operating at three sites in Ituri and has enrolled more than 50 patients. Additional trial sites are expected to increase enrolment in the coming weeks.
Another clinical trial is assessing obeldesivir, an experimental oral antiviral drug, to determine whether a 10-day course can prevent Ebola among people who have had close contact with infected patients. More than 25 high-risk contacts have already been enrolled.
Progress is also being made in vaccine development. A vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India entered Phase 1 clinical trials in the United Kingdom on July 24, while a second candidate developed by Moderna is expected to begin Phase 1 trials in Canada this week.
The WHO is also reviewing animal-study data to determine whether Ervebo, a licensed vaccine developed for the Zaire strain of Ebola, could provide cross-protection against the Bundibugyo virus. Recommendations from a WHO technical advisory group are expected later this week.
Moorthy cautioned that it would take several months before researchers could determine whether the candidate vaccines are safe and effective in humans.
Meanwhile, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jean Kaseya arrived in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, on Tuesday to assess the response alongside WHO officials and other partners.
He said the mission would evaluate ongoing efforts, identify urgent gaps and engage with affected communities and frontline responders.
"Every delay gives the virus more ground," Kaseya said, stressing the need for rapid case detection, comprehensive contact tracing, protection of healthcare workers, and improved access to testing and treatment.
The current outbreak, the DRC's 17th recorded Ebola epidemic, was declared on May 15. Health authorities said population movement, artisanal mining, cross-border travel and continuing armed violence in eastern DRC are contributing to the spread of the disease and complicating containment efforts.