The World Health Organization (WHO) announced the commencement of a trial for potential treatments targeting the virus responsible for the ongoing deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The first patient has been enrolled in the DRC, as stated by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on June 27th. As per WHO data, over 1,406 confirmed cases and 438 deaths have occurred in the DRC alone, with no approved vaccines or treatments available for the Bundibugyo virus strain of the disease, which is highly infectious. This trial, sponsored by the WHO, is being coordinated by scientists at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in DRC, the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium, and the University of Oxford in the UK. Tedros underscored the significance of this clinical trial, stating that while people are recovering from the disease, safe and effective therapeutics could save many more lives. The current Ebola outbreak, which began in May and has been declared a public health emergency by the WHO, has also affected Uganda (20 confirmed cases, 2 deaths) and France (1 confirmed case). The virus, which attacks the immune system and organs, is typically transmitted to humans from infected animals such as fruit bats. It takes two to 21 days for symptoms to appear post-infection, with initial symptoms resembling flu or malaria including fever, headache, and fatigue. Vaccines must be developed for each individual species of Ebola, of which there are six, but only three are known to cause outbreaks.