Ebola treatment started in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The World Health Organization has announced the start of a medical trial to treat the strain of the virus behind the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The first patient was registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, WHO Director-General Theodore Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, the World Health Organization has reported more than 1,400 cases and 438 deaths.

There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the highly contagious strain of Bundibugyo virus.

The current trial is sponsored by the WHO and is being coordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Démocratique Richard, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium and the University of Oxford in England.

Tedros told reporters from WHO headquarters in Geneva on Thursday: “The clinical trial of two treatments has begun with the enrollment of the first patient.”

According to the head of the World Health Organization, “people are recovering from this disease despite the lack of approved treatment methods, but we can certainly save more people by using safe and effective treatment methods in our equipment.”