DR Congo Reports 1,561 Confirmed Ebola Cases and 506 Deaths

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has reported that confirmed Ebola cases in the country have reached 1,561, including 506 deaths.

The announcement comes as international efforts continue to assess potential treatments for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference that a major international effort is under way to evaluate possible treatments for this strain of the disease.

He said the PARTNERS clinical trial has opened patient enrolment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The PARTNERS trial, officially known as the Platform Adaptive Randomised Trial of Novel and Repurposed Filovirus Therapeutics, will assess whether two antiviral treatments can improve survival rates among people diagnosed with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

The two treatments being evaluated are the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and remdesivir.

The trial will also examine whether combining the two antiviral treatments provides additional benefits for patients.

Tedros said the trial, sponsored by the World Health Organization, is being coordinated by the National Institute for Biomedical Research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

The study is being conducted in cooperation with international clinical research and humanitarian partners, with support from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health authorities and international partners hope the trial will help improve treatment options and strengthen the medical response to Ebola outbreaks caused by different strains of the virus.