MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama and the country’s Food and Drug Administration have approved Liberia’s request for sample doses of experimental vaccine to treat two doctors who were infected with the deadly Ebola virus, the Liberian government website says.
“The approval was in response to an August 8, 2014 communication sent to President Barrack Obama by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in which she requested the experimental Serum to be used on the affected Liberian doctors,” the message said.
The vaccine is reportedly due to enter early human trials, pending FDA’s approval. The experimental drug is now to be brought in Liberia by a US government representative later this week, the Executive Mansion website said.
The World Health Organization chief, Margaret Chan, has also authorized the delivery of additional doses of experimental drug to Liberia to treat the affected doctors. The WHO’s serum will be brought in by one of its experts later this week, the Liberian government confirmed.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever is one of the deadliest viruses known to mankind. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person.
The UN’s health watchdog WHO puts the total number of people who contracted the disease since February at 1,848, with 1,013 lethal cases. In Liberia, the tally stands at 599 cases and 323 deaths.
