New Delhi, Sept. 25 -- Eight hundred and thirty-nine people are in Ebola isolation wards across eastern Democratic Republic of Congo right now, most in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. They are being treated with supportive care and experimental drugs because the strain killing them - the Bundibugyo ebolavirus - has no licensed vaccine and no specific approved treatment.

over the previous 21 days, North Kivu province recorded a 73 percent increase in new cases.

During the same three weeks, Ituri's caseload fell 26 percent and Haut-Uele's fell 15 percent. Health experts cited by the United Nations described the combination as "first encouraging signs of progress." The problem is that North Kivu holds 16 of 34 health zones with confirmed t...