KINSHASA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have risen to 1,460, including 447 deaths, authorities said Thursday, while a clinical trial has begun to evaluate potential treatments for the Bundibugyo strain.
According to the latest figures released by the Congolese government, the overall fatality rate stood at 30.6 percent. A total of 595 patients are currently in isolation or hospitalized, while 213 patients have recovered. The rate of contact follow-up across the three affected provinces stood at 82.7 percent.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director-General Jean Kaseya warned Thursday that the ongoing outbreak remains "very serious", as the current outbreak has recorded a particularly rapid increase in both cases and deaths compared with previous Ebola outbreaks in the DRC and the West African Ebola epidemic at the same stage.
DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba called for accelerating clinical trials on monoclonal antibodies and the development of effective vaccines against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, for which no approved treatment currently exists.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that a clinical trial had begun enrolling patients in the DRC to evaluate potential treatments for Bundibugyo virus disease.
According to the WHO, the trial will assess the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir, alone and in combination, to determine whether they can improve survival among patients diagnosed with Bundibugyo virus disease. ■