WHO considers use of experimental vaccines as Ebola cases and deaths rise in DRC

Global health leaders are considering whether vaccines or medicines still in development could be used to fight Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , as the World Health Organization’s chief said he was deeply concerned by the outbreak’s speed and scale. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been at least 500 suspected cases of Ebola and 130 suspected deaths in DRC since the new outbreak began – up from about 200 cases and 65 deaths when it was announced on Friday . Dr Mesfin Te

Spread across the porous border to South Sudan, he said, was probably “a matter of when”. He warned that a weak public health infrastructure there meant “we are actually flying blind”. The IRC provides humanitarian relief in the region, including support to health clinics. Tessema said there was a severe lack of basic protective equipment, such as gloves, masks and goggles, for healthcare workers seeing patients in the area. He added: “Ebola is a very deadly disease – this strain has a mortality rate between 30% and 50%. That is with availability of care. When care is not available, when people are arriving late, that risk of mortality could be higher than that.” There are a number of strains of the virus that can cause Ebola. The Bundibugyo strain, which has been identified as responsible for the current outbreak, has no approved vaccine or treatment. Scientists from the DRC and Uganda published the genome of the virus online on Monday night. Experts who examined the genetic data said it suggests the outbreak was recently sparked by a “spillover event”, meaning a human became infected through contact with an infected animal, and has since spread from human to human. “That is useful because it suggests this outbreak can potentially be traced and interrupted as it has been in the past. Repeated independent spillovers from an animal source would complicate the efforts to stop the outbreak,” said David Matthews, Professor of Virology, University of Bristol.

Key points

• Spread across the porous border to South Sudan, he said, was probably “a matter of when”.
• He warned that a weak public health infrastructure there meant “we are actually flying blind”.
• The IRC provides humanitarian relief in the region, including support to health clinics.
• Tessema said there was a severe lack of basic protective equipment, such as gloves, masks and goggles, for healthcare workers seeing patients in the area.
• He added: “Ebola is a very deadly disease – this strain has a mortality rate between 30% and 50%.