Ebola Serum for Africa ‘in Weeks’

Serum made from the blood of patients who have recovered from Ebola could be available within weeks in Liberia, one of the West African countries hit hardest by the disease, the World Health Organization says. Speaking in Geneva, the WHO’s Dr. Marie Paule Kieny said work also was advancing quickly to get drugs and a vaccine ready by January 2015. Kieny said “partnerships” are being put in place to give Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone the capacity to safely extract plasma and create serum to be used on patients. “The partnership which is moving the quickest will be in Liberia, where we hope that in the coming weeks there will be facilities set up,” she said. The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,500 people so far.