A first patient confirmed positive for the virus responsible for the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been declared cured, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday May 29.
On May 27 in the DRC, “a patient recovered, left the hospital” and was able to return to his community, Anaïs Legand, technical expert on viral hemorrhagic fevers at the WHO, announced to the press in Geneva. This is “the first person admitted to a care center to have been sent home after two negative tests” since the start of the epidemic, she added.
Anaïs Legand stressed that cures were also possible among people infected with the deadly virus but whose infection was not confirmed in the laboratory.
Case fatality rate up to 50%
According to her, the WHO has recorded to date 17 confirmed deaths and 223 suspected deaths linked to Ebola in the DRC since the start of the epidemic on May 15, out of a total of 125 confirmed cases and more than 900 suspected cases. There is no vaccine or specific treatment against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, the cause of the current epidemic.
This strain can have a case fatality rate of up to 50%, but for known cases in this outbreak, the rate currently appears to be less than 25%, although it is constantly changing.
Anaïs Legand insisted that early access to care can significantly improve survival rates. “We expect more people to recover,” she added.
