Question
Asked 20 August 2014
Mohamad-Ali Trad
Mohamad-Ali Trad

Which potential therapeutic agent do you think is the most appropriate to use in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa?

The use of antibody based therapy on the two American health workers has opened an ethical debate, in addition to a therapeutic debate on best available options.
West Africa
Ethics
Antibodies
Ebola
Ebola Virus
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever
Therapeutic Antibody

Most recent answer

John Hackett
JON Pty Ltd
Like most viral diseases which continue to mutate any vaccine or antiviral may be limited to specific mutations. These new products will have unknown long term toxicity effects. Our approach is to use pharmaceutical with a long history of safe use in humans which are readily available. Attached is an example of a PROVIR antiviral formulation which will block entry of Virons into Host cell and stop disease progression. This approach is not mutation specific.
Cite

Top contributors to discussions in this field

Syed Alamdar Ali Shah
Syed Alamdar Ali Shah
John D Blakey
John D Blakey
James Leigh
James Leigh
Vineesh Indira Chandran
Vineesh Indira Chandran
Avik Dutta
Avik Dutta

All Answers (5)

Mohamed A Yassin
National Center for Cancer Care and Research
Very good question I think we are all awaiting the answer
Cite
Janice E Graham
Dalhousie University
A stable, secure and well funded health care system.
Cite
Nicholas Koumbiadis
Adelphi University
Knowledge on how it is transmitted
Cite
Hernan Felipe Merizalde García
Genvask Contract Research Organization CRO
There is already an answer. DRACO , designed by Todd Rider in MIT, is capable to destroy this virus by inducing apoptosis of infected cells. DRACO means "Double-stranded RNA [dsRNA] Activated Caspase
Oligomerizer", and this is the web site of Dr. Ridder`s work: https://www.ll.mit.edu/news/DRACO.html . I just read tha Mr. Mark Zuckerberg donated a fortune to fight ebola virus. But ¿Did he donate anyhing to Dr. Ridder's research ? Here you can read the news:https://fortune.com/2014/10/14/facebooks-mark-zuckerberg-donates-25-million-to-fight-ebola/ . The most effective  way to defeat the virus (and any disease) is in a lab through research. For anyone who is interested, this is the DRACO Fund page: https://www.thedracofund.org/
Cite
John Hackett
JON Pty Ltd
Like most viral diseases which continue to mutate any vaccine or antiviral may be limited to specific mutations. These new products will have unknown long term toxicity effects. Our approach is to use pharmaceutical with a long history of safe use in humans which are readily available. Attached is an example of a PROVIR antiviral formulation which will block entry of Virons into Host cell and stop disease progression. This approach is not mutation specific.
Cite

Similar questions and discussions

Passive immunization for Ebola hemorragic fever?
Question
21 answers
  • Asked 12 August 2014
  • Kevin O KisichKevin O Kisich
The use of an experimental drug for Ebola hemorrhagic fever (ZMApp and others) is hopeful, but quantities are very, very limited. It may or may not be effective in humans. It is helpful to point out what these drugs are, and why we think they might help. First, when we catch a virus, our immune systems analyze the virus, rip it to shreds, and create special blood proteins called antibodies which stick to the virus.... The immune response starts producing "version 1.0" antibodies to the virus after 3-7 days. "Version 2.0" antibodies start coming online after 2-3 weeks. Ebola screws up this process a bit, and kills people before the antibody response can really help much. However, somewhere between 10% and 50% of patients DO develop an effective immune response in time to survive, and eradicate the virus from their bodies.
ZMapp and other "anti ebola drugs" are synthetic copies of antibodies. I have to wonder why the countries most affected by the current outbreak are clamoring for a copy, when they have the original at hand? In the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Kikwit, Congo, doctors gave 8 patients transfusions with blood or blood serum from people who had recovered from Ebola infections. 7 out of 8 of the patients receiving the transfusions survived. (http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/179/Supplement_1/S18.full) There is no guarantee that this technique would work the same way in the current outbreak, but there are now hundreds of potential donors of immune serum in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. While there have been several animal trials of passive immunization, some have shown efficacy, and some have not. Has anyone out there any information on human trials of transfer of immune serum since the Kikwit outbreak?
Have you been in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak(s)?
Question
3 answers
  • Asked 25 June 2014
  • Jennifer ColeJennifer Cole
I am looking for people who are in, or have recently returned from, the areas of West Africa affected by the current Ebola outbreak, as I would like to interview them regarding their health information requirements and the communications they received/looked for during the experience. If you'd be willing to be interviewed, please let me know.
What are the chances that Ebola virus might be introduced to Europe or the Americas through "bushmeat" black market, and how might this occur?
Question
7 answers
  • Asked 4 August 2014
  • David Bruce ConnDavid Bruce Conn
Two patients infected with Ebola virus have now entered the U.S. for treatment, but they are in a highly controlled environment.  However, while the press and the public have been very aware of this, we still have black market transfer of "bush meat", fresh animal flesh from Africa to other parts of the world, outside any regulation for potential disease transmission.  Could it be that while the media and public focus on a contained and controlled situation that is unlikely to result in an Ebola outbreak outside Africa, we are largely ignoring a more significant Ebola threat via other means of introduction?
Do you know any pseudotyped ebola virus commercially available to be used for the screening of potential ebola virus drugs?
Question
5 answers
  • Asked 21 November 2014
  • Javier Sanchez-CespedesJavier Sanchez-Cespedes
My line of research is focused in the design and development of antiviral drugs, specifically directed to adenovirus and BK viruses, for which nowadays there is not a specific drug to treat their infection that is a concern in the transplantation setting, specially at pediatric units.
For this purpose we are working in collaboration with several laboratories in Spain and USA that generate different libraries of small compounds that we screen for their capacity to block infection by these pathogens.
Since we have the expertise and the libraries of small compounds, and  given the urgent necessity to find drugs against the ebolavirus epidemic that we are living in Central Africa, we want to use all we have to collaborate in this matter. We have a BSL-2 setting so obviously we cannot work with the wt virus, so we need a pseudotyped virus to work with.
Can anyone suggest the best micro-nutrient to be supplemented for a patient with Ebola?
Question
5 answers
  • Asked 19 September 2014
  • Zelalem Tafese WondimagegneZelalem Tafese Wondimagegne
Can anyone suggest the best micro-nutrient to be supplemented for a patient with Ebola?
Does the Ebola Virus have catalase activity like the Herpes Simplex Virus?
Question
5 answers
  • Asked 18 October 2014
  • Peter G StrootPeter G Stroot
There is a new hypothesis that links the onset of oxidative stress (ROS-positive blood cells) to the consumption of high levels of inorganic sulfur in the Western Diet.  In West Africa, the Western Diet is not consumed by the majority of the population, which results in low levels of oxidative stress.  If the Ebola virus is vulnerable to oxidative stress, then a switch to the Western Diet may reduce the lethality of Ebola. 
What are some of the negative impacts of burying ebola victims in a particular location/community (long term and short term)?
Question
4 answers
  • Asked 28 January 2015
  • Sheku KantehSheku Kanteh
Before the outbreak of ebola In West Africa, dead bodies are usually given a befitting burial using the traditional system (rectangular hole about 6-8 feet deep, 2-4 feet wide). During the peak of the outbreak in Liberia, dead bodies were burn as a process of disposal. In Sierra Leone all dead bodies have been buried by dressing them as demanded by law and tradition. I am concern about the negative impact of these two methods of disposing dead bodies of victims of the dreadful disease ebola. What are some of the short term and long impacts of these practices on:
1. Agriculture (food supply and safety).
2. Health status of people residing close to cemeteries or burning sites. 
What are the different types of testing kit for ebola? What does the test(s) entails?
Question
2 answers
  • Asked 7 January 2015
  • Danladi Chiroma HusainiDanladi Chiroma Husaini
Provide information on the different types of test kits for ebola and what exactly they test in the human body.
What are the possible measures that would prevent Ebola virus from spreading into new areas/countries?
Question
34 answers
  • Asked 24 September 2014
  • Golam KibriaGolam Kibria
Ebola virus disease or Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. Ebola was first discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Researchers believe that the Ebola virus is animal-borne and that bats are the most likely reservoir. Four of the five virus strains occur in an animal host native to Africa. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts.
Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest. A 2013 study isolated antibodies from fruit bats in Bangladesh, against Ebola Zaire and Reston viruses, thus identifying potential virus hosts and signs of the filoviruses in Asia.
The current and most severely Ebola affected countries are Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia (see the attached Figures). There is no FDA-approved vaccine available for Ebola. The disease has a high risk of death, killing between 50% and 90% of those infected with the virus. A number of interventions would be required to prevent or control the disease.
Question: What are the possible measures that would prevent Ebola virus from spreading into new areas/countries? What measures your country is taking to prevent the disease?(Any weblinks or references relevant to Ebola prevention would be much appreciated)

Related Publications

儿童埃博拉确诊及疑似患者的个性化护理措施
Article
  • Aug 2015
The worst ever outbreak of ebola took place in west Africa in 2014, a large number of children became infected with ebola virus with a high mortality. Children infected with Ebola virus disease (EVD) showed differences from adult clinical signs, which do not have specific, early clinical performance. RT-PCR detection and control of infection, preve...
View
The Ebola virus epidemic: Preparation, not panic
Article
  • Jan 2015
The largest ever outbreak and first epidemic of Ebola virus disease is affecting several West African countries. Early symptoms of Ebola can mimic those of other tropical diseases; therefore, in a world of rapid global travel, physician assistants need to be capable of identifying patients at greatest risk for developing Ebola. Clinicians also shou...
View
Improving attrition rates in Ebola virus drug discovery
Article
  • Jun 2015
Introduction: The Ebola 2014/2015 outbreak has had devastating effects on the people living in West Africa. The spread of the disease in endemic countries and the potential introduction of sporadic cases in other continents points out the global health threat of Ebola virus disease (EVD). Despite the urgent need for treating EVD, there are no appr...
View
Got a technical question?
Get high-quality answers from experts.
Ask a question