WHO: Ethical to use untested Ebola drugs in current outbreak

World Today

The World Health Organization declared it’s ethical to use untested drugs and vaccines in the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa although the tiny supply of one experimental treatment has been depleted and it could be many months until more is available.

There is still no viable drug to treat the virus. There are some experimental drugs, but they are in incredibly short supply.

There has been some debate about whether those types of drugs should be used on humans, especially because it is not known for sure whether or not they are safe. But The World Health Organization weighed in on Tuesday, stating experimental drugs could be used to treat Ebola patients in West Africa as long as the patients know and agree to the risks. CCCTV Africa anchor Penninah Karibe explains.

WHO panel says experimental drugs should be used

In previous outbreaks, 60 or 70 percent of those who fall ill with Ebola will die. This time the rates are a bit better, but still slightly more than 50 percent of those infected will die.

China is among the countries trying to help. Three Chinese medical teams are either en route or already on the ground in West Africa. It’s believed it all began in December, 2013 with a two-year-old patient in a village in Guinea, on the border with Sierra Leone and Liberia. The virus quickly spread to those countries as well as Nigeria. Health officials there have just reported the tenth case of Ebola. David Quammen is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic.” He joins CCTV American. Here’s his Insight on the Ebola outbreak.

David Quammen on the Ebola outbreak

David Quammen is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic." He joins CCTV American. Here's his Insight on the Ebola outbreak.

Report compiled with information from The Associated Press.