Three doctors in Liberia receive Ebola test serum

In Liberia, three doctors are treated with Ebola test serum

08/17/2014

Over 1,100 lives have already been claimed by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. There is no vaccine against the dangerous infectious disease. In the fight against the plague, a barely tested drug was used for the first time in Liberia. Three African doctors received the test serum.

For the first time, Africans receive the test serum
In the fight against the Ebola epidemic that is rampant in West Africa, Liberia has for the first time used the barely proven drug that previously treated a Spaniard and two US patients. According to press reports in the capital Monrovia on Saturday, two local doctors and a doctor from Nigeria have been receiving the test serum from the US biotech company Mapp since Thursday. The medics are the first Africans to receive the remedy.

Only ten to twelve cans available
So far, only two US aid workers and a Spanish priest have been treated with the serum. The three patients had also been infected in Liberian hospitals at the often fatal infectious disease. Since then, the condition of the two Americans has improved, the 75-year-old Spaniard, however, died. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are currently only ten to twelve doses of the US serum. An approved Ebola remedy does not exist so far. In addition, to date no vaccine or drug against Ebola has been tested on humans to a greater extent.

Over 2100 Ebola cases
The WHO has called the international health emergency in view of the extent of the disease in West Africa and for the use of barely tested active substances. Liberia is hit hardest by the most severe Ebola epidemic ever, with 413 deaths to date. A total of 2,127 confirmed and suspected cases and 1,145 deaths had been recorded by 13 August in the affected countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. However, many experts assume even higher numbers.

Ebola is becoming more and more dramatic
In many countries, the fear of the disease is increasing in dramatic proportions. So was recently reported: „Nigeria: Hospital staff flee Ebola“. According to press reports, 169 people in the most populous state in Africa are under surveillance for Ebola suspicion, for example because they displayed typical Ebola symptoms. In recent days, more and more doctors and carers have fled the hospitals for fear of being infected. A report by the Nigerian newspaper „Punch“ According to the Ebola sufferers „completely abandoned“.

Entry ban in Kenya
There are also big worries in Kenya. There, the Ministry of Health has issued an entry ban for people from the West African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic. As the Ministry announced after press reports on Saturday, the regulation should apply from Tuesday. Above all, it was about passengers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, who wanted to enter. Also from Tuesday, the airline Kenya Airways wants to suspend their flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Only a few days ago, WHO said that Kenya was at an increased risk of spreading the Ebola epidemic from West Africa. The airport of the capital Nairobi is regarded as an important hub in African air traffic. (Ad)