WHO expects more recoveries after 1st Ebola survivor discharged in Congo

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday it expects more patients to recover from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the first confirmed survivor was discharged from treatment.

“We expect more patients to recover,” Anais Legand of WHO's High Threat Pathogens Team told reporters in Geneva.

The patient, discharged Thursday after receiving two negative test results, was the first person admitted to an Ebola treatment center during the current outbreak to make a full recovery, Legand said.

“We can support communities to recognize the symptoms early, to get early diagnosis so that they can receive the level of care they need,” she added.

The recovery comes as health authorities continue to battle a strain of Ebola for which no approved treatment or vaccine currently exists.

Legand said previous outbreaks caused by the Bundibugyo strain recorded mortality rates ranging from 30% to 50%, while the current outbreak appears to be showing lower fatality rates.

According to WHO data, the case fatality rate stands at approximately 24.6% among confirmed cases and between 22% and 25% among suspected cases.

As of Thursday, Congolese health authorities had reported 125 confirmed cases, including 17 deaths, in the provinces of Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

Another 906 suspected cases, including 223 deaths, remain under investigation.

Additionally, 16 confirmed cases have been reported among healthcare workers.

The outbreak has also spread to neighboring Uganda, which had reported seven confirmed cases, including one death, as of Wednesday. WHO said all cases in Uganda are epidemiologically linked and that no community transmission has been documented.

Possible treatments, vaccines

Legand said WHO and independent experts are evaluating several candidate treatments and vaccines for the Bundibugyo strain.

Among the treatments under consideration are monoclonal antibody therapies and the antiviral remdesivir, including possible combination therapy.

For prevention, experts identified the single-dose rVSV Bundibugyo vaccine, being developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, as the most promising vaccine candidate, according to WHO.

Another candidate, ChAdOx1 Bundibugyo, developed by Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India, could be available for efficacy assessment within months.

WHO also said the licensed Ebola vaccine Ervebo should not be used outside research settings because evidence of its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain remains limited.