ZMapp: Liberia to receive untested drug to treat Ebola patients

Liberia will receive ZMapp, an untested experimental Ebola drug, to treat infected patients, the government announces.

The move came after a request to the US from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the government said.

The news came as medical ethics specialists met in Geneva to explore the use of such new treatments.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which is hosting the meeting, says some 1,013 have died from Ebola in West Africa.

US government officials said their role had been to put Liberian officials in contact with ZMapp maker Mapp Biopharmaceutical.

The pharmaceutical company said its supply of the drug was exhausted after its supplies were sent to West Africa, AFP news agency reported.

The drug was “provided at no cost in all cases,” the company added.

ZMapp has been used in the US on two aid workers who have shown signs of improvement, and a Roman Catholic priest, infected with Ebola in Liberia, who is currently being treated in a hospital in Madrid.

However, the drug has only been tested on monkeys and has not been yet evaluatd for safety in humans.

The WHO will announce the outcome of its emergency meeting on the role of experimental drugs on Tuesday.

Earlier, Ivory Coast announced it had banned all passenger flights from the three countries hit the worst by the spread of Ebola: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

It is the second country, after Saudi Arabia, to impose such a ban in a bid to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

There is no cure for Ebola, which has infected at least 1,779 people since the outbreak was first reported in Guinea in February.

Ebola’s initial flu-like symptoms can lead to external haemorrhaging from areas like eyes and gums, and internal bleeding which can lead to organ failure. Patients have a better chance of survival if they receive early treatment.

Meanwhile, China has sent medical supplies worth 30 million yuan ($4.9 million) to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to help fight against the disease.

Separately, the Chinese ambassador to Sierra Leone said on Monday that eight Chinese medical workers who had been treating Ebola patients had been placed in quarantine for the past two weeks in the capital.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, confirmed a 10th case of Ebola on August 11.