WHO reports progress in DR Congo Ebola response

Sept 16 - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday there were encouraging signs measures to contain an Ebola epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo were gaining ground, though it warned the outbreak was "far from over."

Transmission was declining in the most affected parts of Ituri province, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

"We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground," he said in a conference call but warned the outbreak could still spread in a region with very high population mobility.

Congo had reported more than 7,000 confirmed Ebola cases as of September 11.

The outbreak, the second most lethal on record behind one in West Africa that lasted from 2014 to 2016, has spread to a seventh province.

Improved surveillance could lead to an increase in detected cases, while contact-tracing efforts had also increased, said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's acting director of epidemic and pandemic threat management.

"We have many, many months ahead of us," Van Kerkhove said. "This is far from over."

More than 3,000 healthcare and frontline workers had already been vaccinated with Merck's Ervebo, said Meg Doherty, WHO's director of science, research, evidence and quality for health.

Ervebo is licensed against Zaire ebolavirus, but its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus driving the current outbreak is not known.

Doherty said an observational study involving frontline workers was expected to begin shortly to assess the vaccine's effectiveness, while a separate mid-to-late-stage trial, led by Congo's National Institute of Biomedical Research with other partners, was expected to get under way in the coming weeks.

Ervebo will be among the first vaccines evaluated for efficacy in the trial, followed by other vaccine candidates specifically targeting Bundibugyo Ebola, she said. These include candidates from Moderna and one from the University of Oxford. REUTERS