More than 250 participants have been enrolled in a trial for a drug that could stop them from contracting Ebola in Congo RWAMPARA, Congo -- More than 250 participants have been enrolled in a trial for a drug that could stop them from contracting Ebola in Congo, in what experts have described as a critical step to try to fight the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the Central African country. The drug is targeted at Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the fast-moving outbreak and is without an approved vaccine or treatment. The trial began in July and is one of several studies launched to find some protection and another way of at least slowing the outbreak.
The spoke this week to participants and doctors at the health center where the trial is taking place in the eastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak. The participants include people who have been exposed to the disease in this outbreak, among them health workers and patients’ relatives. At least 8,300 confirmed cases, including 4,000 deaths, have been recorded since this Ebola outbreak was declared in mid-May in eastern Congo.
It has spread to seven provinces and continues to outpace efforts to track and slow it, authorities say. The trial is testing Gilead's experimental antiviral pill, called obeldesivir, which is given soon after suspected contact with the virus to prevent the disease from developing. That approach is called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP.
One participant in the trial known as EBO-PEP told AP that she enrolled in the study in August after her husband tested positive for Ebola. She says so far no one from her family developed symptoms. She and other trial participants requested anonymity to protect their privacy due to the sensitive nature of the Ebola outbreak and the medical protocol involved.
Ebola disease only spreads once symptoms begin. People exposed to infected patients have to wait to see if they get sick. Finding people at high risk of incubating the Bundibugyo virus — also known as contact tracing — has proved difficult in Congo.
Another participant said two of their family members had caught Ebola, and one of them had died. It’s better to take precautions,” he said. The trial, coordinated by ALIMA, a medical nonprofit, aims to recruit nearly 1,000 adults or children over the age of 12 who have come into contact with a confirmed case within the last five days but have no symptoms.
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