Congo rolls out new Ebola drug, death toll at 67

BENi: An outbreak of Ebola in the eastern region Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed 67 people this month, authorities said, as they roll out a battery of new drugs to tackle the virus amid concerns it has spread to a rebel-encircled area.

A total of 105 cases have been reported since the flare-up of Ebola began on Aug 1 in Mangina in North Kivu province, according to the health ministry, out of which 77 were confirmed by laboratory tests.

It said 11 people have recovered from the virus and 67 had died.

Health minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga travelled to Mangina on Thursday and saw two patients being discharged after they were treated with a new prototype treatment called mAb114.

“These two people are among the first 10 patients to have received the therapeutic molecule mAb114,” the ministry said in a statement.

Developed in the United States, it is the first therapeutic drug used in an Ebola epidemic in the DRC.

Earlier this week, the health ministry said four other experimental drugs were approved for treating infected patients.

On Friday, the World Health Organisation warned that signs the virus had spread to the city of Oicha in North Kivu could frustrate efforts to contain the virus.

While Oicha is not under rebel control, WHO emergency response chief Peter Salama said the city was entirely surrounded by feared Ugandan insurgent group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Many civilians were killed in the unrest around Oicha, while aid workers, priests and government employers are currently being held hostage there by insurgents. — AFP