Ebola Virus Disease

News Release Wednesday, November 27, 2019 Study Leaders Publish Results from NIH-DRC-WHO Clinical Trial of Four Experimental Therapies. The investigational therapeutics mAb114 and REGN-EB3 offer patients a greater chance of surviving Ebola virus disease (EVD) compared to the investigational treatment ZMapp, according to published results from a clinical trial conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The new report also shows that early diagnosis and treatment are associated with an increased likelihood of survival from EVD. The results appear online this week in the New England Journal of Medicine . An announcement made on August 12, 2019 , noted that the study leaders halted the trial early, on August 9, 2019, as recommended by an independent data and safety monitoring board based on its review of preliminary data from 499 study patients. The preliminary analysis found that both mAb114 and REGN-EB3 performed better than ZMapp. The fourth drug, remdesivir, performed...

A research group today published full results from a clinical trial of four Ebola therapies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) outbreak, in which preliminary findings in August led health officials to push the pause button to steer patients into groups to receive two treatments that stood out as most promising. An international research group, which includes renowned Ebola researcher and DRC health official Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, MD, published its findings in the New England Journal of Medicine ( NEJM ). Study fleshes out preliminary findings In August, an independent board that was monitoring the study in people treated in DRC Ebola treatment units took an early look at the data and saw that mortality rates were significantly lower in those who received the monoclonal antibody cocktail REGN-EB3 (made by Regeneron of Tarrytown, New York) and the single monoclonal antibody mAb 114, developed from antibodies of an Ebola survivor. The other two therapies in the tria...

The current Ebola outbreak in  Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC) is the worst on record in the country and the second-largest epidemic of the disease recorded anywhere. Almost a year after the declaration of  the outbreak , more than 2,195 people have died from the virus. The Ebola crisis in DRC continues to pose a threat to local communities—despite a massive international response,  promising new vaccines  and  treatments , and improvements in the medical management of the disease. On July 17, 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC a public health emergency of international concern. Ebola is not the only public health emergency in DRC. The main causes of mortality in the country’s eastern region remain preventable diseases such as  malaria  and  measles . In many health zones, only limited health care is available, as was the case even before the Ebola epidemic. Many health workers have also now been r...

Mackenzie Bean - Wednesday, November 27th, 2019 Print  |  Email Increased violence from militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo spurred the World Health Organization to pull one-third of its workforce from an Ebola outbreak zone this week, reports Nature . The organization temporarily evacuated about 40 people from the city of Beni. The remaining 80 team members stationed in the city have mostly halted efforts to trace and vaccinate known contacts of Ebola patients, thereby hindering outbreak containment efforts. The WHO expects Ebola cases to rise as a result, according to Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for the health agency.  As of Nov. 27, the WHO has reported 3,304 confirmed and probable Ebola cases linked to the outbreak, including 2,198 deaths. More articles on clinical leadership & infection control: New Jersey hospital performs kidney transplant on wrong patient Consistent hospitalist care linked to better patient outcomes, study f...

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A measles outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year has so far killed more people than has the Ebola virus, the United Nations Children's Fund said Wednesday. UNICEF said in its report more than 5,000 people in the DRC have died of measles since the start of 2019 -- and more than 90 percent were children under the age of 5. "While the Ebola outbreak, which has claimed more than 2,000 lives in the Eastern DRC, has commanded sustained international attention, measles, which has claimed more than twice as many lives, continues to be underreported," said Edouard Beigbeder, a UNICEF representative in the DRC. The World Health Organization has called the measles the world's largest and fastest-moving epidemic. Although global measles deaths have decreased by 84 percent worldwide -- from 550,100 in 2000 to 89,780 in 2016 -- the highly contagious disease is still common in many developing countries, particularly in parts of Africa and...

Mackenzie Bean - Wednesday, November 27th, 2019 Print  |  Email Increased violence from militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo spurred the World Health Organization to pull one-third of its workforce from an Ebola outbreak zone this week, reports Nature . The organization temporarily evacuated about 40 people from the city of Beni. The remaining 80 team members stationed in the city have mostly halted efforts to trace and vaccinate known contacts of Ebola patients, thereby hindering outbreak containment efforts. The WHO expects Ebola cases to rise as a result, according to Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for the health agency.  As of Nov. 27, the WHO has reported 3,304 confirmed and probable Ebola cases linked to the outbreak, including 2,198 deaths. More articles on clinical leadership & infection control: New Jersey hospital performs kidney transplant on wrong patient Consistent hospitalist care linked to better patient outcomes, study f...

Physician and medical anthropologist at the Graduate Institute Geneva and advisor to the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen spoke to students as part of the  Medicine and its Objects  seminar series on Monday.  Nguyen’s seminar began by describing how war is thought to cause epidemics—the destruction of healthcare, sanitation, clean water sources, and agriculture in war-afflicted areas causes poor hygiene, mass movement of refugees, and outbreaks such as cholera. However, Nguyen’s observation of American military hospitals in Syria and Lebanon led him to discover a different causal path linking war and health epidemics.  “We have two events: the American invasion of Iraq and the global rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and I want to argue that they are linked,” Dr. Nguyen said. The lack of available healthcare due to the war in the Middle East may be the cause of a global bacterial epidemic. In resource-poor and overwhe...

The current Ebola outbreak in  Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC) is the worst on record in the country and the second-largest epidemic of the disease recorded anywhere. Almost a year after the declaration of  the outbreak , more than 2,195 people have died from the virus. The Ebola crisis in DRC continues to pose a threat to local communities—despite a massive international response,  promising new vaccines  and  treatments , and improvements in the medical management of the disease. On July 17, 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC a public health emergency of international concern. Ebola is not the only public health emergency in DRC. The main causes of mortality in the country’s eastern region remain preventable diseases such as  malaria  and  measles . In many health zones, only limited health care is available, as was the case even before the Ebola epidemic. Many health workers have also now been r...

The current Ebola outbreak in  Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC) is the worst on record in the country and the second-largest epidemic of the disease recorded anywhere. Almost a year after the declaration of  the outbreak , more than 2,195 people have died from the virus. The Ebola crisis in DRC continues to pose a threat to local communities—despite a massive international response,  promising new vaccines  and  treatments , and improvements in the medical management of the disease. On July 17, 2019, the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC a public health emergency of international concern. Ebola is not the only public health emergency in DRC. The main causes of mortality in the country’s eastern region remain preventable diseases such as  malaria  and  measles . In many health zones, only limited health care is available, as was the case even before the Ebola epidemic. Many health workers have also now been r...

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday evacuated dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of Beni in Congo due to the worsening security situation. Rebels believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed eight people in an overnight raid on Sunday. Residents angry at the perceived inaction of both the government and a U.N. peacekeeping mission then set fire to the mayor's office and several U.N. buildings on Monday. At least two people were killed in clashes with police. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news briefing in Geneva that 49 non-essential staff were flown on Tuesday morning to the eastern city of Goma, where they will continue working, "Seventy-one remain on the spot at this point to ensure as good as possible or at least the minimum support to the Ebola response," Lindmeier said. "The frustration, the anger of the population on the ground is very much u...

CIDRAP News : More violence continues to stall Ebola response in DRC hot spots “The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) [Monday] said Ebola response operations in two hot spots remain paralyzed for the sixth day in a row, which could prolong the outbreak, amid a report of an attack on a United Nation peacekeeping office in Beni. In other developments, 4 new cases were reported over the weekend and through [Monday], raising the outbreak total past 3,300 to 3,303…” (Schnirring, 11/25). Reuters : WHO, UNICEF evacuate 76 staff from Ebola teams in Congo due to insecurity “The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday evacuated dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the worsening security situation. Rebels believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed eight people in an overnight raid on Sunday…” (Nebehay/Depetris, 11/26). Additional coverage of ...

NEWS 26 November 2019 The World Health Organization has evacuated some staff members from Beni in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over safety concerns. Amy Maxmen Search for this author in: Ebola responders in Beni, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, disinfect each other before entering the home of a woman thought to be infected with the virus. Credit: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters A surge in violence and unrest has forced Ebola responders in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Beni to remain indoors for the last week — hampering efforts to contain the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has temporarily evacuated one-third of its 120 staff members stationed in the city. Those who remain have largely stopped tracing the contacts of people diagnosed with Ebola, who they would normally then vaccinate and monitor for signs of infection. As a result, “we expect Ebola cases to rise”, says Christian Lindmeier, a spokeper...

Protesters targeted UN facilities again in eastern DR Congo on Tuesday with at least two people killed as anger rises over the failure to stop deadly attacks on civilians  by rebels.  Omar Aboud, the United Nations chief of military forces in Beni, said no live ammunition was fired by UN forces at the attacking protesters in the town of Beni in North Kivu province . "We are aware of the demonstrators who are making their way and we are making every effort to continue the dialogue with these demonstrators and their leaders, as well as the national authorities ... to ensure calm and return to peace and security," Aboud told Al Jazeera. "We have our troops and our police officers who are trained in riot control and who provided protection to our compound while it was being attacked for hours at a time." Crowds defied a curfew late on Tuesday and continued to vent their anger at UN forces in a stand-off outside Beni. Running street battles occurred all day as demon...

GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday evacuated dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the worsening security situation. Rebels believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed eight people in an overnight raid on Sunday. Residents angry at the perceived inaction of both the government and a U.N. peacekeeping mission then set fire to the mayor's office and several U.N. buildings on Monday. At least two people were killed in clashes with police. [L8N2853CZ] WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news briefing in Geneva that 49 non-essential staff were flown on Tuesday morning to the eastern city of Goma, where they will continue working, "Seventy-one remain on the spot at this point to ensure as good as possible or at least the minimum support to the Ebola response," Lindmeier said. "The frustration, th...

CIDRAP News : More violence continues to stall Ebola response in DRC hot spots “The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) [Monday] said Ebola response operations in two hot spots remain paralyzed for the sixth day in a row, which could prolong the outbreak, amid a report of an attack on a United Nation peacekeeping office in Beni. In other developments, 4 new cases were reported over the weekend and through [Monday], raising the outbreak total past 3,300 to 3,303…” (Schnirring, 11/25). Reuters : WHO, UNICEF evacuate 76 staff from Ebola teams in Congo due to insecurity “The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday evacuated dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the worsening security situation. Rebels believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed eight people in an overnight raid on Sunday…” (Nebehay/Depetris, 11/26). Additional coverage of ...

GENEVA — The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday evacuated dozens of their staff working on the Ebola epidemic from the town of Beni in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the worsening security situation. Rebels believed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) killed eight people in an overnight raid on Sunday. Residents angry at the perceived inaction of both the government and a U.N. peacekeeping mission then set fire to the mayor's office and several U.N. buildings on Monday. At least two people were killed in clashes with police. [L8N2853CZ] WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a news briefing in Geneva that 49 non-essential staff were flown on Tuesday morning to the eastern city of Goma, where they will continue working, "Seventy-one remain on the spot at this point to ensure as good as possible or at least the minimum support to the Ebola response," Lindmeier said. "The frustration, th...