KINSHASA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 3,360, with 1,487 confirmed deaths, according to the latest situation report released Wednesday by the country's health authorities.
The report, covering data through Monday, said 597 patients had recovered, while 733 remained in isolation. The eastern Ituri province remains the epicenter, accounting for nearly 89 percent of all confirmed cases. Health authorities said the epidemic remains in a phase of sustained transmission with a high level of virus circulation.
Meanwhile, DRC's official news outlet ACP reported Tuesday that the National Institute for Biomedical Research launched on the same day earlier a clinical trial in Ituri to evaluate an investigational antiviral drug for post-exposure prophylaxis among people at high risk of Ebola infection.
Participants will be monitored for 42 days under the study protocol. The trial is intended to assess the safety and efficacy of the candidate treatment in preventing Bundibugyo ebolavirus disease among high-risk contacts before symptoms develop.
There are currently no approved vaccines or specific treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus.
WHO also said in its latest report released on Tuesday that the overall public health risk in the DRC remains very high. It warned that continued transmission along major internal and cross-border mobility corridors continues to pose a high risk of further national and international spread.
Uganda's Ministry of Health on Tuesday officially declared an end to the current Ebola outbreak, saying advances in epidemiological investigations and the fully characterized nature of the outbreak provided sufficient scientific evidence that transmission had been interrupted.
"Despite the absence of new cases, Uganda remains at high risk of reintroduction because of the ongoing outbreak in the neighboring DRC," said the WHO report. ■