The U.S. has provided doses of an experimental antibody drug from Mapp Biopharmaceutical for use in clinical trials to fight the widening Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, a Health Department spokesperson said.
Tag: Government Health Policy
The number of confirmed Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of Congo has increased to 782 after 72 new cases were documented in 24 hours, one of the biggest single-day jumps during the ongoing outbreak, government data showed on Sunday.
After the Kpangba displacement camp became the first in this part of war-torn Congo to record deaths from Ebola two weeks ago, health workers rushed to trace those who had come into contact with the deceased to break chains of transmission.
Nearly a month into one of the world’s largest ever Ebola outbreaks, medics in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling to secure basic equipment to stay safe and prevent further spread of the disease, according to more than a dozen doctors, humanitarian workers and public health officials.
Most of the 13 U.S. treatment centers in a government-funded hospital network for severe infectious diseases are ready to handle patients, including those with Ebola if needed, representatives from the hospitals said this week.
Around 20 flights carrying medical equipment and specialist staff have landed at a base in Kenya where the U.S. government is continuing to build an Ebola quarantine facility despite protests and Kenyan court orders blocking it, according to flight data and officials.
Four nurses who were being treated for Ebola have been discharged from a hospital in Bunia after recovering from the disease.
The World Health Organisation chief on Saturday called on communities in the centre of the Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak to play a central role in fighting the disease.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 220 people are suspected to have died from the virus.
Two attacks over the weekend targeted the same hospital that permitted more than two dozen patients to run away. One patient in critical condition with hemorrhaging died while trying to flee from his bed.