THE outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expanding, while the push to accelerate testing and identify effective treatment options continues, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.
The outbreak’s “true scale has not yet been fully established… we would like to say it is stabilising, but frankly, we cannot say it yet”, said Dr Anne Ancia, WHO representative to the DRC.
Speaking from Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province at the heart of the outbreak, Dr Ancia told reporters in Geneva that as of 4 July, the country’s government had recorded 1,561 confirmed cases, including 506 deaths and 254 people recovered. More than 10,000 contacts are being monitored.
In support of the government-led response, WHO is strengthening its understanding of the history of every case of infection “so that we can really understand the chain of transmission” and isolate every contact case, Dr Ancia said.
Pointing to the challenges, the WHO representative said that treatment centres are “at saturation point”.
“I visited treatment centres in and around Bunia, Beni, Butembo, Katwa, and I met frontline workers responsible for patient care, contact tracing, investigating alerts, and sensitising and mobilising communities,” she said. “I witnessed firsthand the dedication of staff who continue to serve their communities despite enormous challenges,” she insisted.
“I really wish to salute the engagement of each and everyone involved in this response.”
The current outbreak was declared on 15 May and has been unfolding in areas marked by active conflict, displacement and overstretched health services.
“Today, we do not have enough ambulances,” Dr Ancia said, warning that all the needs in Ituri Province cannot be met.
Encouraging developments include the progress made on testing, as daily capacity has increased from 30 tests in Kinshasa to more than 2,000, “thanks to 10 decentralised laboratories established in the affected provinces”, the WHO representative explained, with the most recent lab opening in Bunia.
Another positive step is the start of a clinical trial on 2 July to identify effective treatment options, as there is no approved, proven cure for the Bundibugyo virus disease.
“The trial will evaluate two promising therapies, a monoclonal antibody, MBP134, and the antiviral remdesivir,” Dr Ancia said. “These drugs will be administered alone or in combination to assess their potential to improve survival among people with the Bundibugyo virus disease.”
More than 1,200 treatment doses are available and additional therapies can be incorporated into the trial as new evidence emerges.
The security situation in eastern DRC remains highly unstable amid violent clashes in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. In late June, James Swan, head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the DRC known as MONUSCO, told the Security Council that heavy fighting continued between the Alliance Fleuve Congo/23 March Movement (AFC/M23), supported by Rwandan forces, and the Congolese Army (FARDC) allied with the Wazalendo armed group. Rwanda has consistently denied such allegations.
Asked about a reported claim from the M23 group that Ebola had been eradicated in the areas under its control, Dr Ancia confirmed having received information indicating that there were no more cases in those zones and “all contact cases had been released”.
In the parts of North Kivu controlled by the de facto authorities, “we are working to strengthen community surveillance to make sure that there are no more cases,” she said, as a high number of alerts are coming through “every day” from labs in the field and are being followed up.
“For now, indeed, we do not have reports of confirmed cases” in the area, she said.
