Goma (DR Congo) (AFP)

Congolese health authorities announced on Tuesday the cure of two Ebola patients after eleven days of treatment in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a new proof of the effectiveness of two molecules recently put forward by American study.

"We are very happy to announce that, of the four confirmed Ebola cases in Goma, two are being cured, which is a strong message to us that Ebola is curable, and today the drugs are there," he said. Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, coordinator of the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We have two treatments now, mAb114 and REGN-EB3, so these are the two molecules that we are going to use, because according to the results we have obtained so far, these are the two molecules that are effective. "said the expert Congolese specialist and pioneer in the fight against Ebola.

On Monday, US health authorities, who co-funded a study on Ebola treatment, said the two drugs significantly boosted the survival rate of patients in a clinical trial in the DRC, which doubled.

Among the approximately 500 people whose data were analyzed (out of a total of 681 participants), mortality fell to 29% with REGN-EB3 and 34% with mAb114, detailed on Monday Anthony Fauci, director of the American Institute of Infectious Diseases and Allergies. For people not taking any treatment, the mortality rate is between 60 and 67%.

These two treatments are monoclonal antibodies that work by neutralizing the ability of the virus to affect other cells.

- "We can heal quickly" -

"There were four molecules that were used to treat patients, two molecules have proved their effectiveness, mAb114 and REGN-EB3.I can not say more," said AFP Dr. Celestin Ntawigenga coordinator of the response to Goma.

The wife of a goldsmith who died on August 2 in Goma, Esperance Nabintu and her one-year-old boy returned home after being declared cured by the health authorities.

"I thank God, I was sick of Ebola, I am cured when my husband died (...) Ebola exists, I have experienced it in my flesh, it kills but we can heal quickly" , testified Ms. Nabintu.

"My husband died because he was taken to the ETC (Ebola Treatment Center) late," said the mother of ten.

The DRC is affected by an Ebola outbreak declared on August 1, 2018. Since July, four cases have been recorded in Goma, capital of North Kivu, raising fears of a spread of the epidemic in other Congolese cities and in neighboring countries.

- Massive vaccinations -

For a week now, Rwandan authorities have imposed restrictions on their nationals wishing to go to Goma, in the name of the fight against Ebola. However, Congolese are allowed to go and return to Rwanda, with a pass.

Highly contagious, the haemorrhagic fever has already caused 1.892 deaths, according to the latest figures from the authorities, dated Monday. According to this source, a total of 833 people have been cured of Ebola since the beginning of this tenth epidemic on Congolese soil, where the disease appeared in 1976.

The virus is transmitted to humans by certain wild animals, then through humans through direct and close contact, via the bodily fluids of a sick person.

Health workers are not spared: 41 deaths have been registered among them, according to the Ministry of Health.

In addition to curative treatment, a preventive vaccine has been administered to 191,237 people for one year. "The only vaccine to be used in this outbreak is the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine, manufactured by the pharmaceutical group Merck," the ministry said.

The epidemic was relatively circumscribed in two provinces (North Kivu in the east and Ituri in the northeast). Two cases have nonetheless been recorded in neighboring Uganda.

© 2019 AFP