DR Congo Ebola outbreak: Nurses discharged after full recovery

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Four nurses who fell ill with Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been discharged from hospital after recovering from the often-fatal illness that sparked an international health alert. 

“More recoveries are expected, especially when people are diagnosed early and able to access care, and as outbreak response intensifies,” the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said in an update on Sunday.

In total, five people have recovered from the virus, the agency said, citing the case of a laboratory worker who was given the all-clear last Thursday.

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The announcement is welcome news as the UN-partnered response ramps up to the outbreak of Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus, particularly because there is no licensed vaccine or treatment and which the WHO characterized as “a disease you get when you care for someone”.

As of Sunday, there were 210 confirmed cases of infection reported in the country, with 17 confirmed deaths. Nearly 350 suspected cases are under investigation and 16 health workers have contracted Ebola in DRC during this latest outbreak. 

Since the declaration of the Ebola outbreak on 15 May, key response measures have included laboratory testing, disease surveillance, infection prevention and control, community engagement and resource mobilization.

In Bunia, the likely epicentre of the outbreak and capital of Ituri province, WHO has handed over a refurbished Ebola Treatment Centre to the health authorities. The facility has 24 beds with a total capacity of 60 beds. WHO is also setting up an annexe with up to 42 beds.   

Getting on top of the outbreak has been complicated by the dire humanitarian situation in DRC’s resource-rich far east, where decades of ongoing conflict have left 1.2 million people requiring assistance in Ituri province alone. Transmission has been concentrated in Ituri, as well as North Kivu and South Kivu provinces. 

Treatments in pipeline

Although there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo virus that causes Ebola, WHO advisory groups described several candidate treatments and vaccines as “promising enough” to warrant prioritization for evaluation in clinical trials. 

WHO’s role is to work with the health authorities in DRC and Uganda to make this happen.

For confirmed cases, three candidate therapeutics for treatment have been prioritized for clinical trials: the monoclonal antibodies MBP 134 and maftivimab, and the antiviral remdesivir.

For prevention, the oral antiviral obeldesivir is being prioritized within a clinical study as a post-exposure measure for those who have been in contact with confirmed cases.

According to WHO, two candidate vaccines have been identified for evaluation once doses become available.

Tedros solidarity call

In the meantime, the agency stressed the key role of community engagement in ending transmission of the virus, which has a fatality rate of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent.

“Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus can be survived with good medical care, and some people here in Ituri have already recovered. Seeking care early makes a real difference…It is not without hope,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, speaking in Bunia at the weekend.   

In an update on Friday, WHO highlighted that the outbreak in both DRC and neighbouring Uganda was evolving rapidly “with increasing case numbers, geographic spread, and ongoing cross-border transmission”. An additional confirmed case of an individual from the US who had treated patients in DRC is still receiving care in Germany.