Kinshasa, July 6 (IANS). The outbreak of Ebola virus continues to increase in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The country’s health officials have released a report regarding this, according to which 506 people have died so far due to the epidemic.
Quoting the report released on Sunday, Xinhua News Agency said that so far 1,561 people have been confirmed to be infected with Ebola in the country. Of these, 506 people have died, while 254 patients have recovered. At the same time, 628 infected patients are currently in isolation or hospitalized.
Health officials have also identified 354 suspected cases, including 110 deaths.
According to the report, the Ebola outbreak has so far spread to 36 health areas in three provinces. A steady increase in cases of infection has been seen in recent weeks. More than 300 new confirmed cases were reported in the 25th and 26th weeks of the pandemic, the highest total since the beginning of the outbreak. It is clear from this that the infection is still spreading rapidly in the community.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that a clinical trial has been started in DRC to investigate a possible treatment for Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo Ebolavirus. There is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment available against this virus.
The clinical trial has started at the CME Ebola treatment center in the Rwampara health region in Ituri province, which is considered the epicenter of the outbreak.
WHO announced the same day that the first participant in the study had been enrolled. The trial is investigating whether the antiviral drug remdesivir, the experimental antibody treatment MBP134, or a combination of the two can increase the survival chances of patients infected with Bundibugyo virus.
According to Dr Vasi Murthy, WHO research advisor, after the start of treatment, the patients’ condition will be monitored for 28 days so that the results can be assessed.
This WHO-supported clinical trial is being conducted in partnership with several institutions, including Congo’s National Biomedical Research Institute (INRB), Britain’s University of Oxford, Belgium’s Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine, and other international health organizations.
–IANS
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