Ebola treatment hopes after ZMapp treatment shows 100 per cent success rate in monkeys

Around 45 per cent of people infected have died Credit: Reuters

Monkeys infected with the deadly Ebola virus have made a 100 per cent recovery rate after being treated by experimental drug ZMapp.

All 18 rhesus macaques treated with the medication made a complete recovery - even when given five days after infection, while they were displaying severe symptoms.

It raises hopes that the drug could be a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease.

Three untreated monkeys who were infected at the same time fell seriously ill and died after eight days.

ZMapp is a mixture of three laboratory-made antibodies designed to tackle and neutralise the virus.

Protective clothing worn by health workers in West Africa Credit: Reuters

The research, published in a special report for the Nature journal, was carried out by scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada, led by Dr Gary Kobinger.

He wrote:

The drug is currently being used to treat British health worker William Pooley, who contracted the disease while in Africa.

Dr Kent Brantly was among two US workers who recovered after being treated with ZMapp Credit: AP Direct

It comes after two US health workers infected with Ebola while working in Liberia made a full recovery after being given the drug - though it is not known whether their recovery was due to the treatment or whether they were just lucky.

Ebola can have a mortality rate of up to 90 per cent, but during the current outbreak in West Africa around 45 per cent of those infected have survived without treatment.

More than 1,500 people have died from the virus to date, of more than 3,000 cases reported in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

Officials in the affected countries have resorted to quarantining off entire neighbourhoods in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.

Some neighbourhoods have been quarantined to try to stop the spread of the infection Credit: Reuters

Ebola is one of the world's deadliest infections, and kills by overwhelming the immune system and sending the body into shock as blood pressure plunges to dangerous levels.

The development of ZMapp and its success in treating Ebola has been welcomed by academics around the world.

Writing in Nature, Prof Thomas Geisbert, from the University of Texas, said:

The state of West Africa currently Credit: Reuters

One potential problem facing researchers is how quickly the drug could be produced to meet demand.

ZMapp, developed by US biotech company Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc, is manufactured in the leaves of genetically modified tobacco plants.

The process could yield 20 to 40 doses a month - but evidence suggests effective treatment would require three doses of 15 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.