The body of a
shirtless man killed by Ebola is picked up from the middle of a dirt road in
Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, and carried away by health workers.
The shocking images,
which are being taken in West Africa on a daily basis, highlight how the
outbreak is spiraling out of control - and medical officials are yet to find a
cure.
But experts believe
an unusual treatment may help combat the disease, one which involves using the
blood of those who have survived the deadly virus.
Health workers place the body of a man inside a plastic
body bag in front of a crowd in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He is
suspected of dying due to the Ebola virus
'This is something
that's fairly simple to do,' said Dr. Peter Piot, director of London's School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the co-discoverer of the Ebola
virus.
More than 200
experts, assembled by the World Health Organization, have gathered in Geneva for
a two day conference.
The group are looking
at issues of safety and effectiveness and considering which treatments should be
prioritized for testing during the current outbreak.
There are around a
half dozen medicines and vaccines in development. None has been tested on humans
but an early trial of one vaccine began this week in the United
States.
Much attention has
focused on the unproven drug ZMapp, which was given to seven patients, two of
whom died. But the limited supply is now exhausted and its developer says it
will take months to make even a modest amount.
In contrast, WHO's
blood network, an international group of blood regulators, noted recently there
are thousands of survivors from past Ebola outbreaks in Africa who could be
tapped as a source.
The group said blood
from survivors should be considered experimental and recommended that studies be
done during the crisis.
His corpse was left on a dirt road in the middle of the
Liberian capital with pedestrians ignoring the body as they waked
past
In another document
published this week, WHO estimated the first batches of survivor blood could be
available by the end of the year. The agency said it had identified several
recovered patients as potential donors, but acknowledged 'logistics of blood
collection are an issue.'
Some scientists think
antibodies in the blood of Ebola survivors could help patients infected with the
deadly disease.
Antibodies are
produced by the body's immune system to fight off harmful things like viruses.
They remain in the blood ready to fight off any future infections by the same
foreign substance.
Piot said it is vital
to find out if the blood treatment is effective.
'I hope this is the
last Ebola outbreak where all we have is isolation, quarantine and supportive
care to treat patients,' he said.
Experts say blood
from survivors could be collected and processed for multiple patients, or a
survivor could donate blood to an individual patient. Both methods require
screening the blood for diseases like HIV or malaria.
A health worker sprays the body of the dead man as a crowd
surrounds the gruesome scene
While direct donation
would be easier, the levels of Ebola-fighting antibodies produced by a survivor
can vary. Ideally, experts said, the amount of antibodies should be
measured.
'With drugs, you can
at least do some quality control,' said Tom Geisbert, an Ebola expert at the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. 'If you're just taking blood
blindly from (survivors) without testing it for antibody levels, how can we
predict what outcome they will have?'
In West Africa, there
have been no organized attempts to use the blood of survivors to treat patients.
Blood from a 14-year-old boy who survived Ebola was given in July to American
doctor Kent Brantly, who was infected in Liberia. Brantly also got some ZMapp
and was released from an Atlanta hospital last month. It's unknown whether the
drug or the boy's blood aided his recovery.
Blood from survivors
of diseases including Ebola, bird flu and anthrax has been used in the past when
doctors ran out of options and seems to work best in diseases where there's a
toxin, like anthrax and tetanus.
Medical workers from the Liberian Red Cross load another
body into the back of a van in Monrovia
Health worker's spray each other with disinfectant
chemicals after dealing with the corpse of the Ebola with a victim in Monrovia,
Liberia
For treating Ebola,
'you would need to come up with how much you should give, how long, and what's a
safe infusion rate,' said Dr. Michael Kurilla, director of BioDefense at the
U.S. National Institutes of Health. 'If you know what the potency of the serum
is, you could theoretically help the body clear Ebola out of their cells before
it can do too much damage.'
Dr. Colin Brown, who
recently worked in Ebola clinics in Sierra Leone for King's College London's
partnership with the country, said local hospitals should be able to provide
survivors' blood if doctors want to offer it.
So far, more than
3,000 people have been infected. Last week, WHO estimated there could be another
20,000 cases before the Ebola outbreak is stopped, a figure Brown described as
unfortunate but realistic.
Visual artists walk with placards during a rally in
Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coastagainst the Ebola virus which is
effecting neighbouring countries
'It does give us the
opportunity to try some new therapies,' he said. 'And as long as they are not
harmful, why shouldn't we try to do something, hopefully help some patients and
learn from this?'
Health officials are
monitoring more than 200 people who may have been exposed to Ebola in southern
Nigeria and are working to find more people at risk in a race to contain the
disease's spread in Africa's most populous country.
Authorities had been
cautiously optimistic that they would be able to keep Nigeria's outbreak
relatively small. The sick Liberian-American who brought the disease to Nigeria
by plane was quickly isolated and officials said they were successfully
monitoring the people who were in contact with him.
But then last month,
one of those contacts escaped surveillance and fled to the southern oil hub of
Port Harcourt. He infected a doctor who, in turn, exposed dozens of people to
the disease when he continued treating patients after he began having Ebola
symptoms, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
Elsewhere in West
Africa, the outbreak is spinning out of control, killing about 1,900 people so
far, according to the WHO. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have each recorded
hundreds of deaths and the disease most recently spread to Senegal.
There are no known casess of Ebola in Ivory Coast, but the
problem is beginning to spiral out of control in neighbouring countries
including Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
In southern Nigeria,
200 people have been identified as having been exposed to the ill doctor and are
being monitored, the WHO said. About 60 of those are considered at a high risk
of getting Ebola.
Officials are
urgently tracking down more contacts and educating residents about the disease,
Dr Sampson Parker, the health commissioner for Rivers State, where Port Harcourt
is located, said.
Rumour, fear and
confusion about Ebola, which is more typically found in Central Africa, have
helped to fuel its spread. Some people hide their symptoms or avoid medical
care, seeing hospitals as places where people simply go to die.
Nigerian officials
have urged people in Port Harcourt not to panic. Joseph Obari, an oil worker,
said he felt the local authorities had put in place adequate measures to curtail
the disease. But others worry that Ebola will spread.
'I am very afraid
because of the manner the disease is spreading,' said Oji Egwuno, a hotel
manager in Port Harcourt. 'I have to be cautious because I don't want to be the
next victim.'
So far, more than 3,000 people have been infected and
around 1,900 people are thought to have died. Last week, WHO estimated there
could be another 20,000 cases before the Ebola outbreak is stopped
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