MONROVIA, February 27 (LINA) -A full-scale clinical trial of the experimental Ebola rug Zmapp commenced at the ELWA-II Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Monrovia Friday, an official of the trial team has disclosed.

Dr Jerry Brown, who is Liberia’s Co-principal Coordinator of the trial, said the process is a partnership initiative between the Liberian Government and the U.S. National Institute of Health.

Making the disclosure at the Ministry of Information daily Ebola press conference at the ministry on Friday, Brown noted that the trial of the drug will target people who are confirmed Ebola positive.

He explained that the trial is intended to find a perfect cure for Ebola as well as authenticate whether, if administered alone, the Zmapp drug can heal an Ebola affected patient.

Brown disclosed that during the heat of the Ebola crisis, nine persons worldwide received emergency doses of the drug and six of them survived.
 
He said it is, however, not yet clear whether it was the Zmapp drug that was responsible for the cure of the six patients as it was administered along with other supportive drugs.

Brown, who is also the lead doctor at the ELWA ETU-II, pointed out that people who test negative for the Ebola virus or those who have taken an Ebola trial vaccine and experimental anti-Ebola drug, will not be eligible for the Zmapp trial.

He said finding a cure for the Ebola virus remains a cardinal concern of both Liberians and the world at-large and as such the clinical trial will be done professionally and in accordance with internationally-accepted standards.
LINA