AGENCIES

The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday announced the first recovery of a confirmed Ebola patient in the outbreak raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The DRC has said that on May 27, a patient recovered and left the hospital and has been discharged into the community,” the WHO’s Anais Legand told reporters, adding it was “the first one”.

WHO said there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including 223 suspected deaths that are being investigated.

There have been 125 confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC, including 17 confirmed deaths in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.

There have also been seven confirmed cases of Ebola in Uganda, three of which were imported from the DRC, and one death. However, no community transmission has been reported, the WHO said.

Meanwhile, WHO recommended prioritising three experimental treatments for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, including Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s MBP134, Regeneron’s maftivimab, and Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir.