A trial of potential treatments for the species of virus behind the current deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.
The first patient has been enrolled in DR Congo, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.
More than 1,400 cases and 438 deaths have been confirmed in the country, according to the WHO.
There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo virus species of the disease, which is highly infectious.
The current trial is sponsored by the WHO, and is being co-ordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DR Congo, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the UK.
Patients will be tested on two antiviral drugs.
Speaking to reporters from the WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday, Tedros said: “Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit.”
DR Congo’s Health Minister Dr Samuel Roger Kamba said the launch “represents a significant step forward, offering renewed hope to patients, their families, and affected communities”.
The current outbreak of Ebola in DR Congo began in May, though transmission had been going undetected for some time.
The situation has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO, which says there have been 1,460 confirmed cases in DR Congo, with 150 suspected cases and 452 deaths, as of 1July. According to the WHO, 213 people have recovered.
There have also been 20 confirmed cases in Uganda, leading to two deaths, and one confirmed case in France, as of 1 July.
Ebola is caused by a virus which attacks the body’s immune system and organs.
It normally infects animals, typically fruit bats, but outbreaks among humans can sometimes start when people handle infected animals. It is spread through bodily fluids like blood.
Congolese health authorities have said the outbreak is currently restricted to three eastern provinces – South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri.
However, the Reuters and AFP news agencies report that the body of a pregnant woman tested positive for Ebola in the neighbouring Tshopo province. The woman reportedly died in Ituri, before her body was transported by motorbike to Tshopo’s main city, Kisangani, which has a population of about 1.5 million people.
Additionally, an individual suspected of having Ebola reportedly fled from an isolation unit in Ituri and later tested positive in the nearby Haut-Uele province.
Authorities are said to have launched contact-tracing efforts across Tshopo and Haut-Uele. Earlier this week, public gatherings were banned in both these provinces, along with neighbouring Bas-Uele and the capital, Kinshsasa, in order to prevent the spread of Ebola.
People with Ebola usually only become contagious after developing symptoms, and it takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear.
They come on suddenly and start like flu or malaria with fever, headache and tiredness.
DR Congo’s health ministry said it has improved diagnosis across the affected region. Previously, four laboratories were testing for Ebola, but that number has now increased to 10 .
According to both Africa CDC and US public health authorities, the current outbreak has the potential to be one of the largest ever, because it was spreading for weeks before it was confirmed to be Ebola.
International organisations also warn that conflict in eastern DR Congo is making it more difficult to tackle the outbreak. The M23 rebel group is in control of large parts of both North and South Kivu.
Vaccines must be developed for each individual species of Ebola, of which there are six, but only three are known to cause outbreaks.
