Global

FORBES   by   David Kroll                                                                                          March 1, 2015

The widely-discussed antibody cocktail, ZMapp, is finally going to be tested under standardized, controlled conditions for its safety and efficacy in Ebola virus disease-infected patients in Liberia and, potentially, the United States.

Late Friday, the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) announced the launch of a randomized trial in up to 200 patient volunteers with confirmed Ebola virus infections.

The two-arm study will compare supportive standard of care with or without three intravenous infusions of ZMapp spaced three days apart. This is the same dosing regimen published in Nature that protected 18 of 18 monkeys when given up to five days after experimental infection.

LeafBio, the commercial arm of San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, announced concomitantly that the FDA had approved their IND for this trial. The three antibodies that comprise ZMapp target both distinct and overlapping parts of the Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP) that it uses to infect humans.

Detailed account of the aftermath of murder by local villagers in Guinea of eight persons who came to teach about Ebola

WASHINGTON POST  by Amy Brittain                                                                             March 1, 2015
WOMEY, Guinea — The lecture about the dangers of Ebola had just begun, but the village had heard enough. A group of women started chanting, to warn the others against the visitors, “They are coming to kill you.” A mob of men masked their faces, waved machetes and rushed toward the speakers. Stones began to fly.

Thousands of Womey residents fled after the killings when Guinea’s military invaded and looted the vllage. More than a dozen died from malnutrition after living for months in the surrounding bushland. (Jane Hahn/For The Washington Post)

submitted by George Hurlburt

A new paper diagnostic device can detect Ebola as well as other viral hemorrhagic fevers in about 10 minutes. The device (pictured here) has silver nanoparticles of different colors that indicate different diseases. On the left is the unused device, opened to reveal the contents inside. On the right, the device has been used for diagnosis; the colored bands show positive tests.  Photo - Jose Gomez-Marquez, Helena de Puig, and Chun-Wan Yen

Simple paper strip can diagnose Ebola and other fevers within 10 minutes

CLICK HERE - Lab on a Chip - Multicolored silver nanoparticles for multiplexed disease diagnostics: distinguishing dengue, yellow fever, and Ebola viruses

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - eurekalert.org - February 24, 2015

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- When diagnosing a case of Ebola, time is of the essence. . .

. . . A new test from MIT researchers . . . The device, a simple paper strip similar to a pregnancy test, can rapidly diagnose Ebola, as well as other viral hemorrhagic fevers such as yellow fever and dengue fever. . .

Center for Global Development - cgdev.org -by Karen A. Grépin and Amanda Glassman - February 4, 2015

. . . In a new paper out today in the BMJ, Karen investigated the level and speed of the international response to the Ebola outbreak and contrasted it with the appeals made by international leaders to curb the spread of the disease. Contrary to widespread belief, Karen finds that, overall, the level of donations to the response were actually robust: as of December 31st, 2,104 donors had pledged almost $3 billion towards controlling the epidemic. Notably, this is actually larger than the official appeals for upwards of $1.5 billion. In addition, the data used underestimate total donations, in particular those given by the World Bank, which mobilized at least $1 billion in financing to help support affected countries.