After several years of trying, scientists have discovered a treatment for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to reports, two out of four drugs being tested have been found to significantly reduce the death rate for the killer disease.
The World Health Organisation and the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that the drugs block the virus, adding it has been found to be substantially more effective than previous drugs like ZMapp and Remdesivir.
Speaking on the breakthrough, Prof Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Director-General of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DRC, said, “From now on, we will no longer say that Ebola is incurable. These advances will help save thousands of lives.
“Now that 90 per cent of their patients can go into the treatment centre and come out completely cured, they will start believing it and building trust in the population and community.”
Also speaking on the new drug, Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome and the co-chair of the WHO Ebola therapeutics group, said “A long-running outbreak like this takes a terrible toll on the communities affected and it is a sign of just how difficult this epidemic has been to control that there have already been enough patients treated to tell us more about the efficacy of these four drugs.
“The trial will have saved lives. The next phase should reveal more about which of the two works best in certain settings.”
