WHO chief reports 5 Ebola recoveries as a new treatment center opens in eastern Congo

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Five patients have recovered from a rare type of Ebola virus, the head of the World Health Organization said Sunday during a visit to Bunia in eastern Congo, a city at the heart of an outbreak .

“Four people will be discharged today and there was one that was discharged the day before yesterday,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during the opening of a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province.

“Of course, we’re still working on vaccines and treatments but that doesn’t mean that people cannot recover from Ebola,” he added.

The WHO said Friday a patient had recovered from the Bundibugyo virus , the current species of Ebola, which has no approved treatment or vaccine. It was the first documented recovery of a confirmed Bundibugyo patient during the current outbreak.

The health organization said authorities have reported 134 confirmed cases in Congo and neighboring Uganda, including 18 confirmed deaths as of May 29.

Baraka Bulambulu, one of those who recovered, told The Associated Press on Sunday that community members feared contracting an unknown illness from them, keeping their distance while delivering food and medicine.

He said the uncertainty was overwhelming, as he and other patients believed they might die without knowing what disease they had, though testing eventually confirmed Ebola.

“Being able to come out of this alive is an immense source of happiness,” Bulambulu said. ”Many people who were in the same situation died.”