#Bunia

At least 282 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in Congo's growing outbreak, the central African nation says, as patients who recovered from a type of the disease with no approved medicine or vaccine described their experiences to The Associated Press.

The outbreak remains focused in eastern Ituri province, where 264 cases have been confirmed, the health ministry said. Congo has reported over 1,000 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo virus, the species of Ebola that was confirmed weeks after the outbreak quietly began.

The outbreak has spread to 22 health zones across three eastern provinces, government data shows, even as the World Health Organization has sought to highlight signs of progress like new deliveries of supplies to deeply under-resourced health centres. Congo's health ministry says the main challenges in containing the outbreak in the remote region include early detection and rapid isolation of cases, rigorous contact tracing, safe and dignified burials and strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said Monday it would commit up to USD 62 million to accelerate development of three experimental vaccines targeting Bundibugyo.

The three in development are from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Moderna and the University of Oxford.

The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients' bodily fluids. Treatment has mostly targeted patients' symptoms, the WHO has said. AP