Health experts in the United States say the Ebola outbreak is unlikely to be eradicated unless a vaccine or other drug treatment is successfully developed. Up until now, the emphasis has been on halting the spread of Ebola in West AFrica by rapidly scaling up public health care facilities. But experts now say those efforts are unlikely to keep pace with the disease. Our Washington Correspondent Daniel Ryntjes reports.
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The public health infrastructures of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have struggled to contain Ebola. The US Defense Department has been allocated 1 billion US dollars to set up 17 field hospitals, logistics operations and public health care facilities with special emphasis on Liberia. The Commander of the US Africa Commmand General David Rodriguez is indicating the progress will initially be slow.
General David M. Rodriguez, Commander, U.S. Africa Command
"Their whole nation is overwhelmed their health facilities are overwhelmed, that's all broke down so we have to bring in everything at the same time."
The U-S military is not providing health care workers, but plans to train up to 500 locals a week for the treatment units. Josh Michaud, an Associate Director at the Kaiser Family Foundation says there's more emphasis on seeking a cure.
Josh Michaud : Associate Director, Global Health Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation
"It will be very difficult to entirely stop all transmission, given how widespread it is. That has raised the possibility in many people's minds that the only way to truly extinguish this epidemic for good will be the use of a vaccine of an effective treatment, or both."
The experimental serum ZMapp, used to treat medical missionary Doctor Kent Brantly, is among several treatments focused on introducing antibodies into an infected Ebola patient. Only 10 doses of ZMapp were available, and it may take months to produce enough to conduct initial trials.
Meanwhile, a promising vaccine has been developed by the U-S government and is being manufactured by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. Initial safety tests are being conducted by the U-S and a British consortium. They are speeding up the trial process: aiming to do it in several months, where it normally takes years.
Josh Michaud : Associate Director, Global Health Policy, Kaiser Family Foundation
"Anything that jeopardizes our understanding of whether the vaccine is safe and effective is not recommended. So there will be a a balance between speeding up process in order to get into people's hands as soon as possible -and knowing that what you are getting into people's hands is safe and effective."
U-S officials are also preparing for testing of a second potential vaccine which was initially developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The role of medical research may ultimately prove critical to stopping the spread of the deadly virus in an area of the world where public health infrastructure simply can't keep up.
ENDS