Obama: Ebola Drug ZMapp 'Not Ready For Africa'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 07 Agustus 2014 | 10.52

It is too soon to send an experimental drug to Africa to treat the deadly ebola virus, according to Barack Obama.

Two Americans are already receiving the ZMapp drug in the US, but the President said efforts should focus on improving facilities and sending more aid workers to the region.

"We've got to let the science guide us," the US President said.

"I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful. What we do know is that the ebola virus - both currently and in the past - is controllable if you have strong public health infrastructure in place."

"Let's get all the health workers that we need on the ground,"  he added. "Let's help to bolster the systems that they already have in place.

A graphic showing the total number of cases and death from ebola in West Africa

"During the course of that process, I think it's entirely appropriate for us to see if there are additional drugs or medical treatments (that can help)."

Nigeria's health minister, Onyenbuchi Chukwu, told reporters he had asked the US about accessing the experimental drug, ZMapp.

However, there are "virtually no doses available", according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As debate over the drug continues, people are continuing to die in West Africa, with Liberia's president declaring a state of emergency.

Another 45 people died between August 2 and 4, with another 108 suspected cases identified, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Kent Brantly Pic: Samaritan's Purse Dr Brantly reportedly improved after taking ZMapp. Pic: Samaritans Purse

The death toll now stands at 932.

Most of the new cases were in Liberia, where the president said he might have to limit some freedoms.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has convened a panel of experts to explore the use of experimental treatments and will announce a plan to deal with the virus on Friday.

ZMapp, made by a company in San Diego, is being used to treat American aid workers Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol.

BRITAIN-HEALTH-EBOLA Ebola treatment facilities are ready at London's Royal Free Hospital

The pair improved after being given the drug while still in Liberia, according to the group they were working for, but it is unclear whether the drug was responsible.

ZMapp has never been tested on humans and was only identified as a possible treatment in January after research by the US government and the military.

"This is an emergency compassionate use situation," Professor Erica Ollman Saphire, from the Scripps Research Institute, told Sky News.

"This is not a well-controlled laboratory study. A lot of work remains to be done on how it worked and why, and how quickly."

Experiments on monkeys suggest ZMapp may reduce fatalities in infected people.

It is slow to produce however, and the antibodies have to be grown in specially-modified tobacco leaves.

Symptoms of the incurable virus include fever, vomiting, severe headaches, muscular pain and, as the patient nears the end, profuse bleeding.

It is transmitted via bodily fluids rather than through the air and has a mortality rate of 60-90%.


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