WHO approves use of experimental drug ZMapp against Ebola Virus

August 13, 2014

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the use of drug ZMapp to combat Ebola spread as the death count surged.
The WHO decision comes after a US firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical supplied ZMapp to treat two US health workers who contracted the Ebola virus while treating Ebola affected patients in Liberia. The drug has shown some positive effects in saving the lives of Ebola-infected people.
The WHO has decided that the experimental drugs should be used with all transparency including aspects of care, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for the person and preservation of dignity. Doctors would not administer ZMapp without consent of the patients.
ZMapp
The current outbreak of Ebola is seen as the most terrible since the discovery of Ebola Virus. At present, there is no cure for Ebola. Recently, Mapp Biopharmaceutical offered the drug ZMapp to two US doctors who got affected with the Ebola disease.
The drug uses a novel method of passive immunization to treat Ebola disease by inserting genetically altered Ebola protein into tobacco leaves. However, it has been tested only on monkeys so far and it was to be tested on human volunteers in 2015. The abrupt outbreak of Ebola hastened the development.