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DR Congo's Ebola crisis deepens · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Where the World Health Organization is warning the ebola outbreak
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  Speaker 1: in the Democratic Republic of Congo is worsening and threatens
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  Speaker 1: to spread to neighbouring countries. DRC is reporting more than
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  Speaker 1: three thousand, six hundred cases with nearly sixteen hundred confirmed deaths.
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  Speaker 1: Health workers are struggling to contain the rare Bundi bugio strain.
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  Speaker 1: Now there is no vaccine, but new treatments are in
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  Speaker 1: the pipeline.
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  Speaker 2: This pregnant woman voluntarily reported to the Ruampara Treatment Center
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  Speaker 2: after coming into contact with a confirmed case of ebola.
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  Speaker 2: She's receiving her first dose as part of a post
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  Speaker 2: exposure clinical trial. As a pregnant participant, she's also receiving
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  Speaker 2: specialized care under a protocol designed to ensure the safety
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  Speaker 2: of both mother and child. The study is evaluating two interventions,
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  Speaker 2: obeil desivie and a plasib. Participants are assigned to either
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  Speaker 2: group through a random selection process.
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  Speaker 3: The treatment is not disclosed to the team at the center.
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  Speaker 3: Participants in the trial are monitored for forty two days.
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  Speaker 3: They are assessed on the day of admission, on day five,
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  Speaker 3: day ten, and day twenty one, as well as at
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  Speaker 3: regular intervals throughout the follow up period. Since the study began,
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  Speaker 3: no participant has declined to take part.
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  Speaker 2: A total of twenty four people have already volunteered for
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  Speaker 2: the trial. At the treatment center, a dedicated facility has
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  Speaker 2: been established to accommodate participants. Professor Yapp Boom says the
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  Speaker 2: launch of the trial offers new hope. He also stresses
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  Speaker 2: that community participation will be critical to achieving the studies
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  Speaker 2: objectives quickly.
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  Speaker 4: For SUESS, this ressert will help us tittermine which of
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  Speaker 4: the treatments being evaluated can be deployed quickly within our communities.
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  Speaker 4: The highest standards of scientific rigor are being applied. What
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  Speaker 4: we need now is greater participation so that we can
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  Speaker 4: protect people and obtain answers as quickly as possible. Undugius
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  Speaker 4: Train has been with us for many years, yet we
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  Speaker 4: still do not have a vaccine or a specific treatment.
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  Speaker 4: Now is the time to change that.
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  Speaker 2: As the outbreak response continues, health authorities urging people identified
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  Speaker 2: as high risk contacts to come forward. They will receive
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  Speaker 2: comprehensive care and monitoring free of charge.
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  Speaker 3: The post exposure abol a clinical trial is now underway.
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  Speaker 3: Anyone who knows they have been in contact with a
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  Speaker 3: confirmed case should not hide or run away. They should
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  Speaker 3: cooperate with the surveillance teams and healthcare workers.
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  Speaker 2: At the same time, researchers are also testing rem desevere
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  Speaker 2: and the monoclonal antibody MBP one three four in ibola patients.
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  Speaker 2: Authorities plan to expand the studies across Itouri Province with
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  Speaker 2: the aim of finding effective treatments and accelerating efforts towards
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  Speaker 2: a vaccine for the bundibugio strain.
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  Speaker 1: And joining me now is doctor Jean Casseia. He's Director
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  Speaker 1: General of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He
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  Speaker 1: joins us tonight from kinshasa Doctor. It's good to have
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  Speaker 1: you with us as we understand that this is now
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  Speaker 1: the largest ebola outbreak that the DRC has ever recorded.
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  Speaker 1: In last week saw the highest numbers of cases and
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  Speaker 1: deaths so far. So the question is the response, is
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  Speaker 1: it still losing ground to the virus.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you, As you said, after twelve weeks of
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  Speaker 5: for declaration of this outbreak, it's already more important outbreak
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  Speaker 5: than the eighteen twenty twenty Ebola outbreak in DRS. It
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  Speaker 5: means in two years we had less cases than what
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  Speaker 5: we have in thirteen or fourteen weeks. Wow. Yes, now
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  Speaker 5: talking about the response. What is making me worried is
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  Speaker 5: the complexity of the situation, bringing together in security, humanitarian issue,
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  Speaker 5: mistrust from community, and also not enough tools like we
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  Speaker 5: still don't have medicines and vaccines. I think this is
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  Speaker 5: what is making this outbreak more complex.
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  Speaker 1: Today, I want to ask you about a trial that's
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  Speaker 1: going on known as the EBO PEP trial. And as
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  Speaker 1: I understand it, this is not treatment for patients who
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  Speaker 1: are already ill, into an attempt to stop the disease
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  Speaker 1: after exposure but before symptoms appear. Is it working.
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  Speaker 5: Yes. We have a number for clinical trials ongoing. The
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  Speaker 5: first one is for the treatment we are combining to
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  Speaker 5: drugs what we call the readom ze ve and the
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  Speaker 5: MVP and THETY four and that one we already enrolled
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  Speaker 5: the around fifteen patients. It's ongoing. We'll see what will
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  Speaker 5: be the results for the treatment. But we want also
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  Speaker 5: to talk about the prophylaxy one that can help people
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  Speaker 5: who are in contact with those who are affected or
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  Speaker 5: infected to have just one pill and to avoid to
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  Speaker 5: develop the disease. And this clinical trial is also ongoing
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  Speaker 5: with what we call the Obel dev It's ongoing and
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  Speaker 5: we hope by September we can have the first result
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  Speaker 5: that can help us to say that we have a
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  Speaker 5: prophilaxi but we also have a Clinker troller on vaccine
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  Speaker 5: that started. I think we are moving in all areas
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  Speaker 5: of the response for this outbreak.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it does sound promising. Let me ask
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  Speaker 1: you how close are scientists to developing a vaccine against
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  Speaker 1: this deadly disease.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah. Currently we have four candidate vaccines and we already
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  Speaker 5: started with the Oxford vaccine. We started the Clinker trail.
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  Speaker 5: We are waiting for the armar rene vaccine from Moderna
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  Speaker 5: to get the necessary approval from Canada and then to start.
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  Speaker 5: And we are also waiting for another vaccine very it
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  Speaker 5: means the Azayir strength vaccine that went also to test
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  Speaker 5: to people who are infected with buyo. I think things
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  Speaker 5: are moving. When we have all of these trials moving,
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  Speaker 5: it gives up to people while we are still saying
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  Speaker 5: we need the public health emergency public health measures to
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  Speaker 5: control this outbreak.
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  Speaker 1: Last week, u Ganda declared itself ebola free. How high
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  Speaker 1: is the danger that this outbreak could spread from DRC.
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  Speaker 5: This call, I'm taking that from Uganda. I mean Uganda.
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  Speaker 5: In Kampala. Today I had the meetings with my colleague
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  Speaker 5: from WHO, with the Minister, with the Vice President, with
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  Speaker 5: a number of senior officials from the ministry and the country.
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  Speaker 5: We discussed and we are first congratulating Uganda for the
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  Speaker 5: progress they made to control this outbreak. But we are
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  Speaker 5: also clear that if we don't stop the outbreak in DARC,
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  Speaker 5: maybe we can still have cases coming from DFC to Uganda.
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  Speaker 5: This is why today we said the cost board activities
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  Speaker 5: are important and also to see how we can support
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  Speaker 5: DARC to control quickly this outbreak. I'm flying tomorrow to
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  Speaker 5: Bunya and then i will meet presently Akadi on Wednesday
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  Speaker 5: with doctor Tedros and we can now discuss with President
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  Speaker 5: Akadi on all actions that we need to take to
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  Speaker 5: stop this artbreak.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Doctor Jean can say, we appreciate your time tonight
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  Speaker 1: and we wish you all the best. You're doing important work.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of lives we realize are on the line.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you.