Canada is to donate 800 to 1,000 doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in Africa.

Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced the news on Tuesday after a panel of medical ethicists convened by the WHO said using experimental-stage Ebola drugs is justified.

Several experimental drugs offered grounds for hope, WHO health innovation Chief Marie-Paule Kieny has said.

The Ebola outbreak, the world’s largest and deadliest, in West Africa has killed 1,013 people so far.

“Our government is committed to doing everything we can to support our international partners, including providing staff to assist with the outbreak response, funding and access to our experimental vaccine,” Ambrose said in a statement.

Ten doses of the drug known as VSV-EBOV have been sent to a hospital in Geneva, at the request of the WHO, and to the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres as an emergency supply.

Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, and sweat. It has killed around two-thirds of those it has infected over the last four decades, with two outbreaks registering fatality rates approaching 90 percent.

There is currently no known cure for Ebola. Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are grappling with the disease, which has also spread to Nigeria

 

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel: