Ebola Death Toll in DR Congo Rises to 447 as Clinical Trials Begin

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has escalated to 1,460 cases, including 447 deaths, authorities confirmed on Thursday. The overall case fatality rate stands at 30.6 per cent, with 595 patients currently in isolation or receiving hospital treatment and 213 recoveries recorded. Contact tracing across the three affected provinces has reached 82.7 per cent.

Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned on Thursday that the ongoing outbreak remains extremely serious, noting a much faster increase in both cases and deaths compared to previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC and the West African epidemic at the same stage.

DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba called for the acceleration of clinical trials for monoclonal antibodies and the development of an effective vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no approved treatment currently exists.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Thursday that a clinical trial has begun recruiting patients in the DRC to evaluate potential treatments for Bundibugyo virus disease. The trial will assess the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, both separately and in combination, to determine whether they can improve survival rates for diagnosed patients.