A cure for Ebola?

For the longest time, the mere mention of Ebola evoked lurid images of sick and dying victims in a pool of blood and body fluids.  With a 90-percent mortality rate, this fatal viral infection has decimated villages in Africa where epidemics break out periodically.

Ebola, for which there is currently no proven cure, is transmitted to humans from wild animals such as monkeys and fruit bats, and is then spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those already infected, such as blood, sweat and other secretions.

The latest outbreak that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an “international health emergency” has so far claimed 1,400 lives in West Africa, specifically Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Congo.

But the recent recovery of two Ebola-infected American missionaries, thanks to the use of an experimental drug, has thrown a welcome sliver of light on an otherwise grim scenario.

Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who contracted the disease while working for Christian organizations in Liberia, were cleared for discharge after their symptoms eased, and their blood and urine showed no trace of the virus.

The two were given the experimental treatment Zmapp, a combination of three different monoclonal antibodies that bind to the protein of the Ebola virus.  The drug is being developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc. and has not yet been tested on humans for safety or effectiveness.

While its efficacy has yet to be confirmed—some Ebola patients get better spontaneously or with supportive care, while another doctor from Liberia given the same treatment died—the experimental drug and the encouraging results from its use are definitely cause for celebration.

That some pharmaceutical companies would persist in developing a cure for an infection that afflicts mostly Third World countries where patients can ill afford to pay for medication is a welcome sign of concern among otherwise profit-hungry corporations.

The possibility of finding a medical cure for Ebola is also a boost for science which has taken a beating in some African countries where superstitions label the infection as a curse, the result of  witchcraft or sexual excesses, or Western medicine’s way of getting usable organs for transplant in rich countries. Aid and health workers often find a hostile reception in afflicted villages since they are seen as having brought the disease themselves, purportedly so they can haul patients to hospital where their organs are harvested to be eventually sold.

It might be too early to determine whether ZMapp and other experimental drugs similarly being developed can wipe out Ebola. But already, the bigger issues raised by some quarters center on supply and accessibility.

While the WHO has backed the use of untested drugs and vaccines, the scarcity of supplies begs the question: Who gets priority treatment?

According to its manufacturer, ZMapp is still in the experimental stage with very limited supply, so it cannot be purchased and is not available for general use.  Clinical trials must be done and must have some measure of success before large quantities of the treatment can be made available.  To make sure that patients even from cash-poor countries get access to the drug, national governments, health organizations and international agencies must pitch in to stock up on this treatment.  An investment in a country’s health is after all sound investment in its future.

Until those two challenges are addressed adequately, however, medical facilities, health workers and national governments must persist in giving patients basic intervention shown to be effective so far:  enough intravenous fluids to stop dehydration, antibiotics to fight infections, strict infection control through quarantine and isolation of infected people, the practice of tracing contacts to stop the chain of transmission, rapid burial practices and a widespread village-level information campaign on prevention, symptoms and supportive medical care.

In the meantime, let’s take a break from the unremittingly sober news about the Ebola virus and celebrate the recovery of the two missionaries.  We need success stories to lift our spirit—which, not coincidentally, also boosts our immunity.