By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

According to a tweet from the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations’ Health Agency Country Office in DR Congo this weekend:

One new confirmed Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) case in the health area of Butsili was reported on Oct. 22. 

This brings the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 13th EVD outbreak totals to six confirmed cases, including three deaths.

Last week, Miami-based biotechnology company, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced the deployment of the Ridgeback Ebola Rapid Response team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This deployment is an immediate response to the 13th outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease that was declared earlier this month by the Ministry of Health in the DRC after a 2-year-old boy tested positive for Ebola Zaire by PCR in Beni Health Zone, North Kivu, DRC.

Ridgeback activities include patient-specific treatments, data collection and samples collection/storage, which includes providing free treatment with EbangaTM (Ansuvimab-zykl), which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year.

Ridgeback Bio is supporting a team of clinicians and pharmacists specialized in the treatment of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) patients. The Ridgeback Ebola Rapid Response Team is being deployed from Institut National de Recherche in Kinshasa to Beni and will work with local clinicians in care management to provide EbangaTM treatment and to ensure timely clinical reporting. The Ridgeback Ebola Rapid Response Team is maintaining a current inventory of EbangaTM and the necessary infusion kits. Ridgeback Bio will also support the local laboratory in the collection, transport, aliquoting and storage of samples from treated EVD patients as well as provide clinical data collection and management including pharmacovigilance activities. In this outbreak, as in all other Ebola outbreaks, EbangaTM and any corresponding support from Ridgeback Bio will be given to patients free of charge.

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“At Ridgeback, it is our goal to treat Ebola patients quickly after diagnosis. In order to achieve this, we have established the Ridgeback Ebola Rapid Response team which will work with our partners at the Institut National de Recherche in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Timing is crucial for two important reasons – earlier treatment increases survival and decreases the chance that a local outbreak turns into an epidemic. We are dedicated to our patients and focused on supporting them in this outbreak and future outbreaks,” said Dr. Sabue Mulangu, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs at Ridgeback Bio.