MOSCOW, Sept 2 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 6,186, with 3,007 deaths from the disease, the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health (INSP) said, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
“In the past 24 hours, 86 new cases and 57 deaths were recorded. Thus, the total number of cases has reached 6,186, with 3,007 deaths since the outbreak began,” the INSP said in its daily report.
Official statistics may reflect only a fraction of the actual caseload, as many infected individuals die outside medical facilities, according to assessments by physicians and humanitarian workers surveyed by the Washington Post in the provinces of Ituri and North-Kivu.
To date, neither a vaccine nor a treatment for the new Bundibugyo strain of Ebola has been officially licensed.
However, laboratory data suggest that the new Ervebo vaccine, sent by the WHO to the DRC, may offer some protection.
On Aug 20, the World Health Organization reported that 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine had been sent to the DRC to protect health workers and for clinical trials.
-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI