Story highlights Fifty-eight cases of Ebola have been reported, including 27 deaths

Five experimental treatments will be available for infected patients

(CNN) Five experimental drugs have been approved for use on patients in the Ebola outbreak underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The treatments were allowed Monday by a Congo ethics committee on the grounds of compassionate use. Such treatments have never before been widely available or used during an Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization said Wednesday; at least one of the drugs was used on a limited basis in the 2014 West Africa outbreak.

There have been 58 cases of Ebola reported, including 27 deaths, since the outbreak was declared May 8. Thirty-seven cases have been confirmed with laboratory tests.

Control of the outbreak has focused on efforts such as patient isolation and care, contact tracing, community awareness and the use of an experimental vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV.

Vaccination began in the urban setting of Mbandaka and spread to rural regions like Bikoro, where the outbreak began.

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