WHO backs use of experimental Ebola drugs in West Africa epidemic

By Kate Kelland and Stephanie Nebehay LONDON/GENEVA (Reuters) – People infected in the West Africa Ebola outbreak can be offered untested drugs, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, but scarce supplies raise questions about who gets priority in the epidemic of the virus, which has no proven treatment. Liberia said it planned to treat two infected doctors with an unproven Ebola medicine called ZMapp, the first Africans to receive the drug, while a Spanish priest, who the Health Ministry in Madrid said had also been given ZMapp, died. The West Africa Ebola virus epidemic – the world's largest and deadliest so far – has killed at least 1,013 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. There are no licensed treatments or vaccines for Ebola, but several biotech companies and research teams have been working on potential drugs.