Congo expands Ebola testing as outbreak’s real scale eludes officials

The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has climbed to 260 as officials updated their estimates of the outbreak’s size and international health organizations warned of the risk of further spread.

Health Minister Roger Kamba reported the revised tally Saturday at a press conference in Bunia, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak, and said U.S. health authorities had agreed to support Congo’s use of an experimental antibody treatment in a mid-stage trial. The research will help determine the efficacy of the medication, “which is very promising,” he said.

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus, has been reported across more than a dozen health zones in three Congolese provinces. Uganda has recorded nine cases, one of them fatal. Doctors Without Borders says the epidemic may be spreading faster than responders can fully assess, with hundreds of samples still awaiting testing.