Ebola serum in weeks, WHO

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) is optimistic about beginning tests for two experimental Ebola vaccines in West Africa by January and may have a blood serum treatment available for use in Liberia within two weeks, according to The Guardian.

 

Antibodies from the blood of Ebola survivors can form the basis of a life-saving treatment
Antibodies from the blood of Ebola survivors can form the basis of a life-saving treatment

The two vaccines will first be tested on more than 20,000 front-line healthcare workers in the new year, the UN’s health agency said.

Separately, a senior Red Cross official said he was confident the epidemic could be contained within four to six months.

An assistant director general at the WHO said in remarks reported by the BBC that a serum was also was being developed for use in Liberia. The serum is to be based on antibodies extracted from the blood of Ebola survivors.