Experimental treatments against Ebola are promising in a laboratory study

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Laura McMullan, a microbiologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the research, said the two treatments had been developed from earlier strains of epidemics and that this study was the first to test with the current treatment, which researchers call the Ituri strain.

"It is vitally important to ensure that existing treatments work against the virus that makes people sick now," she said.

An antiviral drug called remdesivir and another antibody treatment called ZMapp have both inhibited the growth of the viral strain in human cells during laboratory studies, according to the article published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases .

"They are currently undergoing clinical trials, but we have to check and make sure that they will be as effective," she told CNN.

"The information we had to determine how they worked was based on a variant of the Ebola virus, so we had to make sure that these compounds were actually going to bind and block the virus and measure it, and see if it worked as well." continue, "she said.

The fight against the Ebola virus is difficult, but in the Congo, mistrust and fear make it more difficult

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization, the Ebola epidemic in Congo has killed 1,630 people, for a total of 2,418 cases of the deadly disease. This is the second largest epidemic of the disease in history; the largest was recorded in West Africa and killed more than 11,000 people as of 2014.

Experimental treatments

ZMapp and remdesivir are among the four promising experimental treatments used in Congo. according to what is called a framework of compassionate use, doctors decide on the best treatment for each patient based, in part, on the complexity of drug administration and monitoring, according to the # 39; WHO.

In 2014, ZMapp became known when it was used to treat two American missionary workers, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia. Previously, the experimental drug had only been tested in monkeys.

However, a 2016 study of 72 people with Ebola found that Zmapp may not have been a key factor in their survival. It was found that, while overall beneficial, ZMapp "did not meet the predefined statistical threshold of effectiveness."

"This work has benefits that go beyond this study," said Inger Damon, head of the CDC's Ebola Virus Disease Response Strategy 2018 and director of the High-Impact Pathogens Division. of the pathology of the CDC. "Having access to this virus will allow us to determine if other compounds or potential therapies are affecting the virus in the laboratory."

Health authorities have also successfully used an experimental vaccine that has been shown to be 97% effective during the Ebola outbreak in Congo.

Since the treatments are experimental and still under study, they are administered according to strict protocols and require consent

Despite new drugs to fight the disease, the Ebola virus is spreading to new parts of the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, in eastern Congo, and is re-infecting areas considered cleared of the virus.

Last month, he also crossed the much-feared border into neighboring Uganda, although these isolated cases seem to have been contained.

The deep distrust of the authorities, the attacks on health care workers and the ongoing conflict in the region led to the epidemic continuing unabated eleven months after the confirmation of the first cases.

In its last update of 4 July, the WHO said that over the past four weeks, "a general deterioration of the security situation and the persistence of pockets of distrust of the community exacerbated by political tensions and insecurity "had led to delays and temporary suspensions in the investigation of suspected cases. .

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