In DRC, where there is a major outbreak of the virus – the second biggest ever- the biggest challenges to control the virus include frequent rebel attacks and high mobility of the population. Currently, suspicion of authorities and health agencies are also factors that are hindering efforts to contain the response, according to experts.

Muyembe, who joined scientists recently to announce the trial results, said, news of a cure could change the course of this outbreak.

“Now we can say that 90 percent can come out of treatment cured, they will start believing it and developing trust,” said the 77-year-old, who was part of the team that discovered Ebola 43 years ago. “The first ones to transmit this information will be the patients themselves.”

Dr. Muyembe, who has been referred to as a “true hero,” has been fighting Ebola since it first appeared in the DRC (then Zaire) in 1976.

“The drug mAb114 was developed using antibodies harvested from survivors of Ebola while REGN-EB3 comes from antibodies generated within mice infected with the disease,” the report added.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which co-sponsored the trial, said the results are “very good news” for the fight against Ebola.

NIAID said: “They are the “first drugs that, in a scientifically sound study, have clearly shown a significant diminution in mortality.”

Of the patients given the two experimental drugs in the study, 29% on REGN-EB3 and 34% on mAb114 died. In contrast, 49% on ZMapp and 53% on Remdesivir (the two earlier treatments) died, according to NIAID.

The agency added that the survival rate among patients with low levels of the virus in their blood was as high as 94% when they were given REGN-EB3, and 89% when on mAb114.

In effect, the findings mean that more than 90% of people can survive if they are treated early, according to the team of scientists who worked on the trial.

The team is also hopeful that the deadly Ebola virus may soon become a preventable and treatable disease.

Why Ebola is dangerous

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. It is often transmitted from animals to people, and then from people to people by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated areas.

Formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, the disease is named after Ebola River in DRC. It was first discovered in 1976.

According to the WHO, the incubation period of the disease is between two and 21 days. Some of the first symptoms include fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.  The other symptoms are vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

People remain infectious as long as their blood contains the virus and it may also persist in different fluids including amniotic and placenta fluids in pregnant women and breast milk in lactating women at the time of infection.