The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recorded more than 3,000 confirmed Ebola cases in the latest outbreak, with health authorities reporting this week-end 3,075 cases, including 1,354 deaths and 556 recoveries.
The outbreak, which has affected five provinces — Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele and Tshopo — has left 755 patients receiving treatment in hospitals or isolation centres.
Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka said researchers are working to develop a treatment and vaccine for the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, the strain responsible for the current outbreak. She expressed hope that a vaccine and treatment could be available within two to four months, although no approved vaccine or licensed treatment currently exists for the virus.
The University of Oxford has begun the world’s first human trial of a vaccine candidate, ChAdOx1 BDBV, designed to protect against the Bundibugyo ebolavirus, with the first volunteer already vaccinated.