The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the recovery of five people infected with a rare strain of Ebola that has no approved vaccine or treatment, amid the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced Sunday that four patients were set to be discharged soon, following another patient who had already been sent home Friday. Tedros made the remarks as he inaugurated a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province in eastern DRC.
This current outbreak is the 17th in the DRC. According to the WHO, the virus strain, known as Bundibugyo, has a fatality rate of up to 50% among confirmed cases.
The previous day, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described the situation as “deeply alarming,” warning that the disease was spreading faster than any previous Ebola outbreak. Alan Gonzalez, deputy executive director of MSF, said the strain is difficult to diagnose due to limited testing capacity.
“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded as many cases as quickly after it was declared,” Gonzalez said. “Unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks, this one involves the Bundibugyo virus, for which no specific vaccine or treatment has been approved, and which is particularly hard to diagnose because of limited testing capacity.”
The latest figures from the WHO indicate more than 220 suspected deaths and nearly 1,000 suspected cases. Uganda, which shares hundreds of kilometers of border with the DRC, has reported one death and nine confirmed cases.
