Experimental Ebola drug heals all infected monkeys in a study

An experimental Ebola drug ZMapp has cured all 18 of the lab monkeys infected with the deadly virus, scientists reported on Friday. ZMapp, produced by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, has never been scientifically tested in people, and the current study was the first in primates. ZMapp is three antibodies that attach to cells infected with Ebola, helping the immune system kill them. Eighteen monkeys were given lethal amounts of Ebola in a shot, then received three intravenous doses of ZMapp, given three days apart starting three to five days after they were infected. Some were showing severe symptoms such as excessive bleeding, rashes and effects on their liver. All treated with ZMapp survived; three other infected monkeys who did not get the drug died within eight days.

Given its tremendous efficacy in the nonhuman primates, I don’t see how it couldn’t be helpful in people.

Erica Ollmann Saphire, a Scripps Research Institute professor

Ebola has killed more than 1,500 people this year and the World Health Organization says there could be as many as 20,000 cases before the outbreak is brought under control. On Friday, it spread to a fifth African country — Senegal, where a university student who travelled there from Guinea was being treated. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment, just supportive care to keep the infected hydrated and nourished. Efforts have focused on finding cases and tracking their contacts to limit the disease, which spreads through contact with blood and other fluids.

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