WHO reports first patient recovered in DRC Ebola outbreak

On Friday, the World Health Organization announced the first recovery of a confirmed Ebola patient amid the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo."The DRC has reported that on May 27, a patient recovered, left the hospital, and has been reintegrated into the community," stated Anais Legand from the WHO during a press briefing.She noted that this recovery is the "first" among patients confirmed to have Ebola, but emphasized her belief that there have likely been additional recoveries among individuals who have not yet received laboratory confirmation of their test results. "This is the first case" to be discharged from a care facility "after two negative tests," she added.Legand indicated that the WHO has recorded 17 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola fatalities in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the outbreak was declared on May 15, with 125 confirmed cases and over 900 suspected cases. There is currently no vaccine or specific treatment available for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is responsible for the ongoing outbreak.This strain can have a case fatality rate of up to 50 percent. However, for the confirmed cases in this outbreak, the fatality rate currently appears to be below 25 percent, although this figure is subject to change.