DR Congo says Ebola outbreak yet to peak as virus spreads to new areas

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) remains in a "very active" phase and has yet to peak, health authorities said Thursday.

According to epidemiological data released late on Thursday, the DR Congo had reported 1,792 confirmed cases, including 625 deaths and 295 recoveries. A total of 764 patients are currently in isolation or receiving hospital care.

In Bunia, the capital of the eastern Ituri Province and the epicenter of the outbreak, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said the steady rise in reported cases partly reflected expanded community surveillance rather than a sudden worsening of transmission.

Kamba said it remained too early to predict when infections would plateau because health officials were still identifying previously undetected cases, while population mobility and challenges in community engagement continued to complicate containment efforts.

Wessam Mankoula, operations manager for the Ebola response at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), noted during an online press briefing on Thursday that the DR Congo recorded some 353 confirmed cases during the past week, which marked a 25 percent increase in the country's caseload.

"We continue facing the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever on the continent," Mankoula said. "The outbreak is still growing and evolving. Unfortunately, the virus is still ahead of our response."

The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo Ebola strain, for which there is no licensed vaccine or specific therapeutics.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on July 2 that a clinical trial of two therapeutics had begun enrolling patients in the DR Congo to evaluate potential treatments for the strain.

The trial will evaluate the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral drug remdesivir -- both alone and in combination -- to determine whether they can improve survival among patients diagnosed with Bundibugyo virus disease.