--- title: "Trial of a Pill to Block Ebola After Exposure Enrolls Over 250 in Congo" description: "The study tests Gilead’s experimental drug obeldesivir on contacts of Bundibugyo cases, a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment" author: "rews desk" published: 2026-10-04T19:30:44.622Z modified: 2026-10-05T02:11:25Z url: https://rews.cc/a/trial-of-a-pill-to-block-ebola-after-exposure-enrolls-over-2-f9c276 language: en tags: ["ebola", "health", "congo", "gilead", "vaccine", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Trial of a Pill to Block Ebola After Exposure Enrolls Over 250 in Congo *The study tests Gilead’s experimental drug obeldesivir on contacts of Bundibugyo cases, a strain with no approved vaccine or treatment* By rews desk · October 4, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/trial-of-a-pill-to-block-ebola-after-exposure-enrolls-over-2-f9c276 ## In brief - Over 250 people exposed to Ebola have enrolled in a Congo trial of Gilead’s experimental antiviral pill obeldesivir - The drug targets Bundibugyo virus in an outbreak with at least 8,300 confirmed cases and 4,000 deaths - The ALIMA-led trial seeks nearly 1,000 contacts of confirmed cases; half will get a placebo - Participants are monitored daily for 21 days and checked by phone at 42 days - The WHO says the outbreak outpaces the response and could top West Africa’s 2014-16 epidemic, which killed 11,000 More than 250 people exposed to the deadliest strain in Congo’s Ebola outbreak have enrolled in a trial testing whether an experimental antiviral pill can keep them from falling ill, the Associated Press reported this week after visiting the health center where the study is underway. The trial is aimed at Bundibugyo virus, which has fueled an outbreak that by now counts at least 8,300 confirmed cases and 4,000 deaths since it was declared in mid-May. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for the strain. The drug is Gilead’s obeldesivir, a pill given soon after suspected contact with the virus to stop the disease from developing, an approach known as post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP. The study, called EBO-PEP, began in July at a health center in the eastern province of Ituri, the outbreak’s epicenter. The participants include health workers and patients’ relatives, people who have already been exposed in this outbreak. The outbreak has spread to seven provinces, and the World Health Organization has said it continues to outpace efforts to track and slow it; officials expect it to surpass West Africa’s 2014-to-2016 epidemic, the deadliest on record, which killed 11,000 people. Some officials also fear the true toll is higher than reported, a concern raised as deaths passed 4,000 at the start of this month, when the WHO said a staff member of Doctors Without Borders had tested positive and was being evacuated to the Netherlands. One woman told the AP she enrolled in August after her husband tested positive. “I realized that if I even touched my husband — and I did touch him, his vomit, everything — (it meant that) I was a direct contact,” she said. “I could have also passed on this contagious disease. I could have been contaminated.” So far, no one in her family has developed symptoms, she said. Like other participants, she asked not to be identified, citing the sensitivity of the outbreak and the medical protocol. Another participant said two relatives had caught Ebola and one had died. “This disease is killing. It’s better to take precautions,” he said. The trial is coordinated by ALIMA, a medical nonprofit, with Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases, a French institute, as partners. It aims to recruit nearly 1,000 adults and children over 12 who came into contact with a confirmed case within the past five days and show no symptoms. Half will receive a placebo. Participants are checked in person every day for 21 days, with a final phone call at 42 days, according to Dr. Godefroid Basara, who is working on the trial. ALIMA said anyone who develops symptoms gets supportive treatment immediately. Ebola spreads only after symptoms begin, so exposed people must wait to learn whether they were infected. Finding those people — contact tracing — has proved difficult in Congo, which is what makes a preventive pill appealing. “It differs from a vaccine, which may take days or weeks to provide protection. It is also different from curative treatment because it is intended for people who are not yet showing symptoms,” Dr. Guilavogui Jean Paul Yassa, ALIMA’s research coordinator, told the AP. If the pill works, it could break the chain of infection in outbreaks like this one. Recruiting is not simple. Dr. Jacques Zawadi, an investigating physician with ALIMA at the trial center, said most participants take part willingly, but reaching people who live far from the center is hard, and the study is disrupted when participants learn that family members have died. “This is the biggest challenge we face,” he said. “When a person is emotionally affected, it is not easy to reason with them and ensure they return to the study.” While new vaccines are developed elsewhere, Congo has begun vaccinating health workers with Ervebo, a shot that worked against earlier outbreaks caused by a different and more common virus. Authorities say Ervebo may offer some protection against Bundibugyo, but whether it actually prevents illness is still being studied. In June, an ALIMA physician tested positive after returning to France from one of the hot spots.