Early detection and community mobilization remain critical to saving lives as potential treatments and vaccines are still being evaluated, the UN health agency said on Friday.
Since May 15, UN agencies have supported both the DRC and neighboring Uganda to contain the outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, which spreads through close contact.
“It’s a disease you get when you take care of someone, for your husband or your partner or your child or your mother,” Anaïs Legand, a WHO technical officer, told reporters in Geneva.
“You get it when you want to help someone with symptoms and it’s horrible” she said, explaining it families and friends must be instructed not to touch relatives who become ill.
30 to 50 percent chance of death
Mrs. Legand highlighted the critical importance of prevention and early access to care in the face of this particularly deadly disease. Based on past outbreaks, “mortality rates range between 30 and 50 percent,” she said — “that’s huge.”
While “five out of 10 people are likely to die”, according to the WHO expert, more can be done to promote recovery.
“We can scale up optimized intensive care,” she said. “We can support communities to recognize the symptoms early to get early diagnostics so they can receive the level of care they need.”
Experience shows that the Ebola outbreak can only be controlled when communities are “fully involved” in the response, Ms. Legrand – and highlighted a recent case in the DRC where a patient made a full recovery and was discharged from hospital.
Detective work
The WHO has brought together experts to review potential treatments and vaccines against the virus, and several products have now been identified for further evaluation.
For confirmed cases, three treatment candidates for treatment have been prioritized for clinical trialsrevealed Ms. Legend: the monoclonal antibodies MBP 134 and maftivimab and the antiviral remdesivir.
A shipment of essential medical supplies for the Ebola fight arrives at Bunia Airport in Ituri Province, DR Congo.
For prevention, the oral antiviral obeldesivir is being prioritized in a clinical trial as a post-exposure measure for those who have been in contact with confirmed cases.
The WHO expert added that two candidate vaccines have been identified for evaluation when doses become available.
The agency is working closely with the governments of the DRC and Uganda while simultaneously “urgently scaling up care capacity.”
Access problem
“This outbreak is happening in a very complex context,” she stressed, recalling In the affected Ituri province alone, 1.2 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, while ongoing conflict and food insecurity are hampering the response.
“The question that we have in the field is not necessarily a question of resources,” insisted Ms. Legend. “It’s a matter of access.”
The airport in Ituri province’s capital Bunia has been closed and while the DRC government has allowed humanitarian flights to continue, operational restrictions remain. “One day I got a call from my team telling me that there is no fuel“, said the WHO expert.
Tedros on earth
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived in the DRC on Friday and told reporters in the capital Kinshasa that he was there to show the community “is not alone”.
He appealed to the many armed groups that act with impunity in the war-torn eastern region to declare a ceasefire so that health workers can reach people in need and stop the spread of the disease.
The DRC notified the WHO of an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus disease on 15 May, and as of Thursday, 125 confirmed cases, including 17 deaths, have been reported in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.
In addition 906 suspected cases including over 223 deaths are under investigation and will be reviewed as testing capabilities improve.
In Uganda, as of Thursday, there were seven confirmed cases, including one death. The WHO said there is no evidence of community transmission in the country at this time.
No travel restrictions right now
While indicating that people from affected areas who may have been exposed to Ebola should not travel, The UN health agency recommends no restrictions on travel or trade with the DRC or Uganda based on the current information.
Rwampara General Referral Hospital in Ituri Province, DR Congo.
