Ruptly
"Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba on Tuesday said that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government had officially requested the US to obtain experimental 'monoclonal antibody' materials to begin clinical trials for treatment of the Ebola outbreak. "They had developed a treatment, what we call a monoclonal antibody," Kamba said during a special press briefing in Kinshasa, noting it was developed for the previous Zaire strain outbreak but "acts on the three types of Ebola, that is to say Zaire, Sudan, and Bundibugyo." "We have asked the Americans to make this molecule available to us to be able to treat patients because they have some. So, we have made the official request," he added. He explained that for now, management of the virus in patients if being undertaken symptomatically, with no ready-treatment for the Bundibugyo strain. "We are not going to treat the patients directly. We are going to do what is called a clinical trial because it has been tested in the laboratory," he added. He added that the government has worked with regional heatlh authorities and neighbouring countries including Uganda and South Sudan to devise a $319 million (€274.31 million) regional response plan against the virus. "Out of the 319 million, commitments are already over 300 million," he said. "The Congolese state has already released 20 million.” Updating the tally, Kamba said around 1,000 people were suspected Ebola cases, with 101 confirmed cases as of Tuesday. He noted that around 200-220 suspected deaths have been registered, with around 17 confirmed deaths. He said an estimated 3,600 people have come into contact with those affected. “Three provinces have been affected almost from the beginning until today: Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu," he stated. The outbreak began in April in Ituri province, near the border with Uganda. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on May 17. It later raised its national risk assessment for the DRC to very high, while keeping the regional risk level high and the global risk low. WHO says there is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment approved for Bundibugyo virus disease, unlike the Zaire Ebola strain behind many several DRC outbreaks. Early supportive care can still improve survival outcomes."
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