Untested drugs to fight Ebola
Updated: 2014-08-14 07:03
By Agence France-Presse in Geneva (China Daily USA)
|
||||||||
The World Health Organization has authorized the use of experimental drugs to fight Ebola, with the death toll topping 1,000 and a Spanish priest becoming the first European to succumb to the outbreak.
The declaration by the UN's health agency came after a US company that makes an experimental serum called ZMapp said it had sent all its available supplies to hard-hit West Africa.
In addition, the Public Health Agency of Canada said it will donate up to 1,000 doses of an experimental, Canadian-made vaccine to be used in response to the outbreak, The Globe and Mail reported in Toronto on Tuesday.
Health workers carry the body of a man thought to have died from the Ebola virus in Liberia. The body was left on a street in Monrovia, the capital, on Tuesday. The WHO has said it is ethical to use unapproved drugs and vaccines to fight Ebola. Abbas Dulleh / Associated Press |
WHO assistant director general Marie-Paule Kieny said in Geneva after a meeting of medical experts, "In the special circumstances of this Ebola outbreak, it is ethical to offer unregistered interventions as potential treatments or prevention."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced plans to step up the global response to the outbreak, while urging governments to avoid panic and fear over an easily preventable disease.
The epidemic, the worst since Ebola was first identified in 1976, has killed 1,013 people since early this year, the WHO said.
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS said Ebola had killed one of its officials in Nigeria, taking the number of deaths there to three.
Cases have so far been limited to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which account for the bulk of victims, and Nigeria.
Fear has gripped the impoverished countries ravaged by the disease, with harrowing tales emerging of people being shunned by their villages as the virus kills those around them.
In the Liberian village of Ballajah, 150 km from the capital Monrovia, 12-year-old Fatu Sherrif was locked away with her mother's body without food and water for a week.
Her cries went unanswered as panicked residents fled the village when both her parents became sick.
Fatu later died and her brother Barnie, 15, despite testing negative for Ebola, was left alone and hungry in an abandoned house.
Elderly Spanish priest Miguel Pajares, who became infected while helping patients in Liberia, died in a Madrid hospital on Tuesday, five days after being evacuated.
(China Daily USA 08/14/2014 page1)
- Enter the dragon - the wax dragon
- Ebola collaboration urged
- Chinese rally at court for Ji
- China's Napa Valley bid ripe for growth
- Wanda's Hollywood premiere gets welcome
- Sheriff official: Robin Williams killed himself
- Chinese warships visit US navy base after joint drill
- Unique panda triplets take a bow
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Leading leaden lives |
Former security chief under probe |
China helps fight international war on drugs |
Crackdown on terrorist attacks |
My China Story: Meeting the master |
Tongues tied around tatu-bola |
Today's Top News
Brazil presidential candidate Campos killed in plane crash
US Marine deployment raises brows
China, global markets spur Priceline deal
More than 1,000 auto firms probed
Chinese fans mourn beloved star
Deng TV series lifts the lid on key years
Futures consultants see future in China
Menlo Park VC invests in China's medical tourism
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |