Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo is beginning to see encouraging signs in its fight against a major Ebola outbreak, but the World Health Organization (WHO) says sustained efforts will be needed to bring the epidemic under control.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said transmission was declining in some of the worst-affected areas of Ituri province, suggesting that containment measures were beginning to have an impact. However, he cautioned that the outbreak remains highly difficult to control because of extensive population movement across the region.
The outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo virus, had reached 7,258 confirmed cases and 3,510 deaths by Sept. 13, according to the latest WHO regional situation report. It had also expanded to 62 health zones across seven provinces, with Sud-Ubangi becoming the latest province affected.
WHO officials have warned that improved surveillance and testing could result in additional cases being identified, even as transmission begins to decline in some locations.
“This is far from over,” WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove said, stressing that response teams face many more months of work.
Vaccination And Clinical Research
More than 3,000 healthcare and frontline workers had been vaccinated with Merck’s Ervebo vaccine by the time of the Reuters report. However, Ervebo is licensed against the Zaire ebolavirus, not Bundibugyo virus, and its effectiveness against the virus driving the current outbreak remains unknown.
WHO says Ervebo is being evaluated within research protocols, while vaccine candidates specifically targeting Bundibugyo virus are also being investigated, including candidates associated with Moderna and the University of Oxford. WHO’s September 10 update said the available evidence was insufficient to support routine use of Ervebo against Bundibugyo Ebola outside research.
Source: Reuters
Reporting: Siddhi Mahatole
Editing: Pooja Desai
