Article by Viory
Suspected Cases Decline
World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the number of suspected Ebola cases in the DRC had fallen sharply as health authorities worked through a backlog of samples, but warned that the outbreak remains difficult to contain.
“The number of suspected cases has now been reduced to 116 from over 1,000 last week. As we work through the backlog, either confirming them or ruling them out,” Tedros said during a press briefing.
The WHO chief said the outbreak risk assessment remained unchanged, with the threat considered “very high” at the national level, “high” at the regional level and “low” globally.
Tedros added that the treatment capacity had expanded in the country, with three Ebola treatment centres now operating in Bunia and additional treatment units.
“The outbreak had a big head start and we’re still behind, but under the leadership of the government of DRC, we’re catching up. In Bunia, there are now three treatment centres with a capacity of 80 beds and there are also treatment units in Mangualu, Raumpara, Beni, Goma and Bukavu and more are on the way,” he added.
Response Challenges Remain
He also highlighted a number of challenges hampering the response, including weak contact tracing, insecurity, population displacement and community mistrust.
“Only about 45% of contacts have been followed up and to get ahead of the outbreak we need to get that number up to above 90%,” Tedros said.
WHO officials said the organisation had deployed 106 staff across three provinces and supplied 2,000 diagnostic tests to health authorities in Bunia. However, some healthcare workers have been infected and placed in quarantine, creating staffing shortages in affected areas.
“This type of Ebola virus is rare. Since it was discovered, it has been 19 years, and there have only been two outbreaks: the first one in 2007 and then the second in 2012. Although we have candidate vaccines and treatments, there are no approved vaccines or treatments. That adds to the complexity,” Tedros said.
Vaccine Research Advances
According to Tedros, the disease can also be difficult to identify because its symptoms closely resemble those of malaria, which is widespread in the affected region.
WHO R&D Blueprint official Dr. Murthy said researchers were accelerating work on experimental treatments and preventive measures.
“The two agents there are MBP134, a promising pan-Ebola monoclonal antibody, and Remdesivir, which are the most advanced in trials,” Murthy said.
He added that researchers were also preparing a clinical trial of the oral antiviral as a potential post-exposure treatment.
“When we consider prevention of cases we’re certainly not waiting for the vaccines in that we have another new development for an Ebola outbreak and that is an oral antiviral, Obeldesivir,” he stated.
Funding And Borders
The WHO estimates that $115 million will be needed for the first three months of the Ebola response.
“Of what WHO needs, of that 115, we are only 35% funded at the moment for this initial period and considering the scale of the outbreak we estimate we will need a lot more for the duration of the response,” said Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, WHO Assistant Director-General for Division of Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems.
The Bundibugyo virus disease Ebola outbreak was declared by the DRC and Uganda on May 15 after laboratory tests confirmed Bundibugyo virus disease. WHO named it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17.
As of May 21, the WHO said the DRC had reported 83 confirmed cases, including nine deaths, as well as 746 suspected cases and 176 suspected deaths. Later reporting put the toll at more than 1000 suspected cases and around 240 suspected deaths.
Uganda has temporarily closed its borders with the DRC, except for Ebola response teams, humanitarian operations, cargo, food transportation, and security personnel, all of which are subject to strict screening procedures.
Article by Viory
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