Overview
- Health authorities report more than 2,000 confirmed Bundibugyo Ebola cases with roughly 750–800 deaths, and the WHO warns the true toll may be two to four times higher because many infections go uncounted.
- This week the WHO launched EBO-PEP, the first post-exposure trial of oral obeldesivir, which aims to recruit about 1,000 recent contacts aged 12 and older and follow them for 42 days.
- A separate trial testing the monoclonal antibody MBP134 and the antiviral remdesivir began in Ituri on July 2 to evaluate each drug alone and in combination for sick patients.
- Surveillance and access problems are severe: roughly 80% of new cases were not on known contact lists, many deaths occurred in the community before care, and insecurity and poor roads limit tracing and treatment.
- Regional response capacity is strained and underfunded, Uganda has cleared its last patient and starts a 42-day countdown to be Ebola-free, and the WHO/Africa CDC joint plan still faces a large financing gap.