More than 3,000 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as the World Health Organisation (WHO) prepares to begin vaccine trials against the strain responsible for the outbreak.
The latest figures released by the Congolese National Institute of Public Health on Wednesday showed that 6,186 confirmed cases and 3,007 deaths have been recorded.
The outbreak has a case fatality rate of 48.6 per cent, while 1,409 people have reportedly recovered.
The outbreak was declared in Ituri Province on May 15 and has since spread to six provinces.
The affected areas are facing insecurity and limited government presence due to the activities of armed groups, complicating efforts to contain the disease and provide treatment.
According to the WHO, about 60 per cent of Ebola deaths occur outside treatment centres, highlighting the difficulty of detecting and treating cases early.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the Ebola virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.
The WHO said trials of three potential vaccines could begin by October or November.
“Two new vaccines against Bundibugyo virus are now in safety trials in the UK and Canada,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told reporters in Geneva.
The WHO has also recommended a full-scale human trial of Ervebo, a vaccine approved for the more common Zaire strain, to determine whether it can provide protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
Early data suggest that Ervebo, manufactured by Merck, may offer some protection against the strain.
A batch of 16,250 doses of Ervebo arrived in the DRC in July for frontline healthcare workers, with vaccination beginning shortly afterwards in Kisangani.
WHO vaccines chief, Kate O’Brien, said healthcare workers should receive the vaccine only as part of research aimed at determining its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo strain.
The outbreak has also been complicated by insecurity and resistance from some communities, which have hindered efforts to identify, isolate and treat patients at an early stage.
