ع
The World Health Organization sponsored trial is testing Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s monoclonal antibody MBP134 as a standalone therapy and in combination with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir. It is coordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in the DRC along with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. A Reuters report indicated the study could enroll more than 1,000 patients and take several months while sufficient drug supplies have already been secured. The United States donated doses of MBP134 to facilitate the work according to the same dispatch.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the enrollment of the first patient during a briefing in Geneva. He stated “The clinical trial of two therapeutics began, with the enrolment of the first patient” and added “Even without approved therapeutics, people are recovering from this disease, but of course, we could save many more lives with safe and effective therapeutics in our toolkit.” The Bundibugyo virus has no approved vaccines or treatments unlike the Zaire strain for which monoclonal antibodies were licensed after trials in the DRC between 2018 and 2020 according to Doctors Without Borders.
The outbreak was first confirmed on May 15, 2026, in Ituri Province in northeastern DRC and was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO two days later a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alert reported. As of June 30 the WHO placed the DRC toll at 1,406 confirmed cases with 438 deaths and 301 suspected cases while Uganda recorded 20 confirmed cases and two deaths with one additional case identified in France by July 1. Patients typically present with fever, body pain, weakness, vomiting and sometimes bleeding after an incubation period of two to 21 days.
Bundibugyo virus was first identified in a 2007 outbreak in Uganda and has caused only limited epidemics with estimated case fatality rates between 25 and 40 percent according to Doctors Without Borders analysis. This contrasts with the roughly 50 percent average fatality rate across all Ebola species cited in WHO fact sheets and the 66 percent rate seen in the 2018-2020 Zaire strain outbreak in the DRC that killed 2,287 people out of 3,470 cases per CDC historical data. The current outbreak follows the end of a previous Ebola event in the DRC in December 2025 the CDC noted.
Conflict, population displacement, mining activity and cross-border travel in the affected areas have heightened transmission risks and strained health systems a Doctors Without Borders assessment found. Supportive care including fluid replacement, oxygen therapy and monitoring remains the main intervention in the absence of licensed treatments for this strain according to the same group. The WHO has issued guidelines for filovirus clinical management to guide response efforts amid these challenges.
A Nature journal article published in May 2026 observed that trials for Bundibugyo treatments were well positioned to begin rapidly thanks to prior preparedness from earlier outbreaks. Discussions continue on candidate vaccines that could also be evaluated under emergency protocols the World Health Organization has indicated. The trial results could inform regulatory approvals and post-study access to effective drugs if they demonstrate safety and efficacy according to Reuters.
