World Health Organization hails recovery of five Ebola patients

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.

Ghebreyesus made the comments while opening a new Ebola treatment centre in the eastern Congolese city of Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.

“Four people will be discharged today, and there was one that was discharged the day before yesterday,” he said.

The latest outbreak is the DRC’s 17th. According to the WHO, the strain, known as Bundibugyo, kills up to 50 percent of those infected.

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

In a statement, Alan Gonzalez, MSF’s deputy director of operations, said this 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.”

The WHO said the latest official figures show more than 220 suspected deaths and almost 1,000 suspected cases. Uganda, which shares a border with the DRC extending hundreds of kilometres, has reported one death and nine cases.