Clinical trials have started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to test the monoclonal antibody MBP134 from Mapp Biopharmaceutical and the antiviral remdesivir from Gilead Sciences, and the World Health Organization reports the first participant is enrolled at a secure Ituri treatment center.The outbreak has produced 1,406 confirmed infections and 438 deaths, with cases now reported across Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and imported events in Haut-Uele and Tshopo, and a recent case in Kisangani involved a 24-year-old pregnant woman whose body was secretly transported for burial.The National Institute of Biomedical Research is coordinating the trial with Oxford University, the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp and other partners, and the World Health Organization has authorized an emergency-use diagnostic specific to the Bundibugyo variant.Researchers say proving whether
MBP134 or
remdesivir improve survival will take months and several hundred to more than 1,000 participants, and
Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed hope for a vaccine by the end of this year while shortages and attacks on clinics hinder response efforts.