The supply of an experimental drug to treat the deadly Ebola virus is exhausted after the last doses were earmarked to be sent to West Africa, the company that makes ZMapp said Monday. The Liberian government said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made a direct appeal Friday to U.S. President Barack Obama for the drug to treat doctors infected during an outbreak that has killed more than 1,000 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria. A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department said U.S. authorities helped by connecting the drug maker with Liberian officials, Reuters reported. It was not clear when the drug would be delivered.
The Liberian statement also said doses also were being obtained from the World Health Organization. So far, only three people are known to have been given the drug. Two Americans — a doctor and a health aid worker — were treated with ZMapp after contracting Ebola in Liberia. Both were flown back to the U.S. A 75-year-old Spanish priest has also been given the drug after being flown from Sierra Leone to Madrid. On Monday, WHO said the death toll had reached 1,013, with a total of 1,848 cases.
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