The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced the first recovery of a confirmed Ebola patient in the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The DRC has said that on May 27, a patient recovered, left the hospital and was discharged back into the community,” WHO official Anais Legand told reporters.
Legand described the case as the first confirmed Ebola patient to recover during the outbreak, though she noted that other unconfirmed patients may also have recovered.
“This is the first one to be discharged from a care centre following two negative tests,” she said.
According to Legand, the WHO has so far recorded 17 confirmed Ebola deaths and 223 suspected deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak was declared on May 15. The figures are drawn from 125 confirmed cases and more than 900 suspected infections.
The current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or specific treatment.
The strain can have a fatality rate of up to 50 percent. However, among the confirmed cases recorded in the current outbreak, the fatality rate is estimated at below 25 percent, although officials say the figures remain subject to change.
Legand, a WHO technical officer on viral haemorrhagic fevers, stressed that early access to medical care significantly improves survival chances.
“We are expecting more people to recover,” she said.
AFP
