世衛組織將公佈埃博拉試驗藥物討論結果

The World Health Organization is due to release Tuesday the outcome of a meeting on the ethical considerations for using experimental drugs to treat Ebola, as governments try to find ways to combat the worst-ever outbreak of the disease.

The discussion comes as Liberia prepares to receive a shipment of an experimental drug from a U.S. company to treat two Liberian doctors infected with Ebola.

Liberian officials said Monday they expected the drug called ZMapp to arrive in a matter of days. The drug's manufacturer said in a statement its supply has now been exhausted after fulfilling a request from an unnamed West African country.

ZMapp has not been tested for safety in humans. A Spanish priest infected with Ebola was due to receive the drug, but a Madrid hospital announced Tuesday he had died.

The drug is also being used to treat two U.S. aid workers who have shown signs of improvement, though what role the drug is playing is not clear.

The WHO says more than 1,000 people have died since the outbreak began in February, most of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Nigeria's health ministry confirmed a new case of Ebola on Monday. Officials there say 10 people have been infected and two people have died.

The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is on pace to infect more people than all previous outbreaks of the virus combined. The disease has no known cure or vaccine.世界衛生組織星期二將公佈有關使用實驗性藥物醫治埃博拉病毒感染者的倫理問題會議的結果。有關各國政府正在尋找遏止埃博拉疫情的方法。此次埃博拉疫情是歷來最爲嚴重的。

利比里亞準備接受美國一家公司提供的實驗性藥物，用來醫治感染埃博拉病毒的兩名利比里亞醫生，由此引發了有關的討論。

利比里亞官員星期一說，他們期待這種名爲ZMapp的藥物將在幾天內送抵利比里亞。該藥物的製造商發表聲明說，爲了滿足某個西非國家的要求，這種藥物現已沒有存貨。

ZMapp尚未經過人體安全試驗。ZMapp尚未經過人體安全試驗。感染了埃博拉病毒的一位西班牙神父本來會接受ZMapp藥物治療，但馬德里醫院週二宣佈，他已經死亡。

ZMapp還被用來醫治兩名美國人。這兩名美國人有病情好轉的跡象，不過這種藥物的作用仍不清楚。

世界衛生組織說，自埃博拉疫情於2月爆發以來，已有1000多人死亡，其中大多數是在幾內亞、利比里亞和塞拉利昂。

尼日利亞衛生部星期一證實當地又有一人感染了埃博拉病毒。政府官員說，尼日利亞共有10人感染，2人死亡。

這次西非爆發埃博拉病毒，感染人數超過以前歷次埃博拉疫情的總和。埃博拉病目前無法治癒，也沒有任何疫苗。