WHO announces first confirmed Ebola recovery in DRC

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the first recovery of a confirmed Ebola patient in the outbreak raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The DRC has said that on 27 May, a patient recovered and left the hospital and has been discharged into the community," the WHO's Anais Legand told reporters.

She said it marked the "first" among patients who had been confirmed to have Ebola, but stressed that she expected there had been other recoveries among people who have not yet received laboratory confirmation of test results.

"This is the first one" to be discharged from a care centre "following two negative tests", she said.

Ms Legand said the WHO had to date recorded 17 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DR Congo since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, out of 125 confirmed cases and over 900 suspected cases.

No vaccine or specific treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.

The strain can have a case fatality rate of up to 50%.

Uganda confirmed two new Ebola cases today, bringing the total to nine - including one fatality - since the outbreak was declared on 15 May in the neighbouring DRC.

The health ministry said the two new cases are both Congolese nationals.

One presented Ebola symptoms and was immediately isolated, while the other was a contact of a previously confirmed case.

For the known cases in this outbreak, the rate currently appears to be below 25%, although that number is evolving.

Ms Legand, a WHO technical officer on viral haemorrhagic fevers, stressed that early access to care can greatly improve survival rates.