13 August 2014 | News | By BioSpectrum Bureau
Ebola multiplies, 52 people die in 3 days
Singapore: The Liberian Health Ministry has announced that the experimental Ebola drug would be given to two African doctors suffering from the disease. The two doctors would be the first Africans to receive the untested drug, manufactured by Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, a US-based drug maker.
The initiative was taken as a result of anger among the member nations that only Westerners had received the experimental treatment so far. ZMapp is one of the several drugs in development to attempt to stop the deadly outbreak.
That treatment is so new that it hasn't been tested for safety or effectiveness in humans. Mapp Biopharmaceuticals said that it had run out of supply already, and the company said it would take months to produce even modest quantities.
The treatment is aimed at boosting the immune system's efforts to fight off Ebola. It is made from antibodies grown inside tobacco plants. Despite the risk of unproven medicines, Sierra Leone and Guinea too have asked for the experimental drug as Ebola multiplied incessantly, killing 52 people in 3 days.