Two drugs are being trialled in the Ituri region in a programme set up just six weeks after the outbreak was declared, with hopes it will reduce mortality rates There is no approve…

Two drugs are being trialled in the Ituri region in a programme set up just six weeks after the outbreak was declared, with hopes it will reduce mortality rates There is no approved drug to help the medical teams scrabbling to save lives in the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – but there are hopes that could change within months as the first patients are enrolled in a treatment trial. It is a record pace to set up and start this kind of research, scientists said, with patients enrolled just six weeks after the outbreak being declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 17 May. Nevertheless, in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, where the virus is raging, people are impatient. “I hope these drug trials proceed quickly,” said Neema Haba, a mother of three and banana seller. “Financially, we are being driven to the brink by this outbreak and nothing is going right. We are struggling to provide for our children.” As of 9 July, there had been 1,792 confirmed cases and 625 deaths caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there is no vaccine and no approved treatment. It is still “in the expansion phase”, according to the WHO. The response is reliant on the basic techniques of identifying cases, isolating them for care and tracking and monitoring people they have been in contact with. The latest figures show about 75% of known contacts are being traced, but low trust in authorities and a highly mobile population are hampering efforts. In addition, some frontline workers stopped work this week in protest at a lack of pay.