Five patients have recovered from a rare strain of Ebola, the WHO chief said Sunday during a visit to Bunia in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak.
"Four people will be discharged today and there was one who was discharged the day before yesterday," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the opening of a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri.
"Of course, we’re still working on vaccines and treatments, but that doesn’t mean that people cannot recover from Ebola," he added.
The WHO said Friday a patient had recovered from the Bundibugyo virus, the current kind of Ebola, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. It was the first documented recovery of a confirmed Bundibugyo patient during the current outbreak.
The health organization said the latest official figures showed 906 suspected cases and 223 suspected deaths. Neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, the Ugandan Health Ministry said Friday.
