Ebola recoveries bring signs of hope in DRC

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), four nurses infected with the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola have recovered and been discharged from a hospital in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

More recoveries are expected, especially when people are diagnosed early and able to access care, and as the response to the outbreak intensifies.

A laboratory worker had also recovered, the agency said, bringing the total number of people who have recovered from the virus to five. However, ⁠suspected cases are being looked into in Brazil and Italy tied to travel to affected nations.

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country has increased to 282, with 42 deaths, after 19 new positive test results were recorded, according to data distributed by the communications ministry.

Last month, the WHO announced that the outbreak caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus in the DRC and Uganda is a public health emergency of international concern, even though it doesn’t meet the standards for a pandemic emergency.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, while on a Saturday visit to Bunia – the capital of the eastern Congolese province of Ituri – noted that although there currently is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo virus, “it is not without hope,” as it can be survived ‌with ⁠good medical care

The outbreak – the 17th in DRC and the third-largest since Ebola was discovered half a century ago – is outpacing the global response, which got off to a late start.

“The risk of regional spread is already underway,” said Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in an FT op-ed published on Sunday. He noted that more than 1,100 suspected cases are currently under investigation.

In Brazil, a man with a suspected ⁠case of Ebola in Sao Paulo tested positive for meningitis. Another suspected case emerged in Rio de Janeiro, where the patient tested positive for malaria, local health authorities said on Sunday. In neither case does the diagnosis rule out the possibility of Ebola, they said.

In the Sao Paulo case, ⁠a man from the DRC presented with a fever after recently visiting the African country, while in Rio the patient had recently traveled to Uganda.

In Italy, Ebola protocols were activated in Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, for a man who returned from the DRC on Saturday showing some symptoms. However, the health ministry announced early Monday that he tested negative.

“The ministry confirmed that the risk of Ebola in Italy is still very low.”