An outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) occurred in Équateur Province, northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), from June 1 to November 18, 2020. This was the 11th EVD outbreak in the DRC and overlapped with the conclusion of the 10th outbreak, which was centered in northeastern DRC.¹ The 10th outbreak was the second largest in the world, after the 2014−2016 West Africa epidemic, and was the deadliest in DRC history. It lasted nearly 2 years and resulted in 3296 confirmed cases, with a case fatality rate of 67%.² Scientific breakthroughs, including the evaluation of four investigational treatments for EVD in a randomized, controlled trial, occurred during this time. The clinical trial led to the identification of two effective drugs for EVD: the single monoclonal antibody ansuvimab and the triple monoclonal antibody cocktail REGN-EB3 (Table S1 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this letter at NEJM.org).³

Read more...