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More than 10,000 people are reported to have died in
the current Ebola outbreak
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An experimental drug has cured monkeys infected with
the Ebola virus, US-based scientists have said. The treatment, known as TKM-Ebola-Guinea,
targets the Makona strain of the virus, which caused the current deadly
outbreak in West Africa. All three monkeys receiving the treatment were healthy
when the trial ended after 28 days; three untreated monkeys died within nine
days.
Scientists cautioned that the drug's efficacy has not
been proven in humans.
At present, there are no treatments or vaccines for
Ebola that have been proven to work in humans.
BBC report continues:
University of Texas scientist Thomas Geisbert, who was
the senior author of the study published in the journal Nature, said:
"This is the first study to show post-exposure protection... against the
new Makona outbreak strain of Ebola-Zaire virus."
Results from human trials with the drug are expected
in the second half of this year.
Gene blocking
Mr Geisbert said the drug, produced by Tekmira
Pharmaceuticals, could be adapted to target any strain of Ebola and could be
manufactured in as little as eight weeks.
It works by blocking particular genes, which stops the
virus replicating. The two-month production time compares with the
several months needed to make ZMapp - another experimental drug, which cured
monkeys with a different strain of Ebola than the one in the current outbreak.
Since March 2014, more than 10,602 people have been
reported as having died from the disease in six countries - Liberia, Guinea,
Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali.
The total number of reported cases is more than
25,556.
It
has been the deadliest occurrence of Ebola since its discovery in 1976.
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