World Health Organization hails recovery of five Ebola patients

More than 220 people are suspected to have died from the disease’s latest outbreak, which was declared two weeks ago.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has hailed the recovery of five people infected with a rare strain of Ebola for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, amid the latest outbreak of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Sunday that four people would soon be discharged from hospital after another patient was allowed to return home on Friday.

“Four people will be discharged today, and there was one that was discharged the day before yesterday,” Tedros said at the opening of a new Ebola treatment centre in the eastern Congolese city of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.

The latest Ebola outbreak is the 17th to hit the DRC.

But while most previous ones were caused by a virus called Ebola Zaire, for which there are vaccines and treatments, health authorities are now battling a different strain called Bundibugyo, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.

According to the WHO, the strain kills up to 50 percent of those infected.

Meanwhile, medics are working with scant supplies while the DRC also faces mounting public anger over stringent health protocols for dealing with victims’ bodies and the presence of armed groups on its territory.

On Thursday, Tedros made a direct appeal to the armed groups competing for control in the country’s mineral-rich eastern region to declare a ceasefire amid the outbreak.

‘Deeply alarming’

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders, more commonly known by its French acronym MSF, has described the situation as “deeply alarming”, warning that the virus had spread faster than any previous outbreak.

In a statement on Saturday, Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, said the Bundibugyo strain of the disease was difficult to diagnose because of limited testing capacity.

“Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” Gonzalez said.

“Like everyone in the affected areas, MSF teams are witnessing a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic,” he added.

“Unlike most previous Ebola disease outbreaks, this one involves the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or specific treatments, and which is particularly difficult to diagnose due to limited testing capacity.”

According to official figures in the DRC, the country has recorded 263 confirmed cases, 42 confirmed deaths and 349 suspected cases.

Uganda, which shares a border with the DRC extending hundreds of kilometres, has reported one death and nine cases.