The Latest in IT Security

Officials from the World Health Organization today said that experimental medications, like the one currently being used to treat some patients in the West Africa outbreak of the deadly ebola virus, are ethically sound. A panel of 12 doctors, professors, and health advocates discussed the matter yesterday, and decided that using experimental treatments or vaccines could be beneficial. So far, thats been experimental serum called ZMapp co-developed by a pair of US and Canadian drug makers (as well as the US government and Canadas Public Health Agency), which has been used to treat some patients, despite not undergoing clinical trials with humans or gaining regulatory approval. Supplies of the drug have also dwindled due to difficulties producing it, though Canada today said it would donate 800 to 1,000 doses of the drug to be used in aid efforts. A separate drug called TKM-Ebola, which is also developed in Canada, could end up being used as well after getting a nod from the US Food and Drug Administration last week to restart human testing of the drug on those who are already infected.