Clinical testing of two antiviral therapy approaches against the Ebola virus is beginning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
It is also being examined whether combining the two antiviral medicines offers additional benefits for patients with Ebola caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no vaccine or therapy.
In May, the Congo saw an outbreak of Ebola with this strain, with Congolese authorities reporting more than 1,400 Ebola laboratory-confirmed cases so far. By the end of June, more than 400 people had died from the disease and the case fatality rate had risen to 31.2%.
Research for the current epidemic and future outbreaks
"Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
"We urgently need treatments that can help people affected by Bundibugyo virus disease. One of the key lessons from recent outbreaks is that research needs to happen alongside the response, not after it,” said Amanda Rojek, who is leading the study and is a professor at the University of Oxford Pandemic Sciences Institute.
Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba said the clinical study gave patients, their families and affected communities hope. The results could help save lives not only during the current outbreak but also strengthen preparedness for future epidemics, he said.
