An experimental drug has proven 100 percent effective against Ebola in a test on primates, raising hopes of a cure for the virus which has now infected people in five west African nations.
The ZMapp drug even cured monkeys not treated until five days after infection, reported the research paper published in the journal nature on Friday.
Thomas Geisbert, a virologist at the University of Texas, said in an accompanying commentary in Nature that the results were a "monumental achievement"
Though there have been report of the deadly virus spreading over to senegal as a case have been recorded there is hope as this new vaccince can prove reliable and effective in combating the virus and containing it.
There are no approved Ebola vaccines or treatments, but human safety trials will begin next week on a vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and this autumn on one from NewLink Genetics Corp.
The report comes after two US aid workers recovered from Ebola after receiving ZMapp. However, doctors do not know if it aided their recovery, and a Liberian doctor and a Spanish missionary died despite treatment with the drug.
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