French nurse cured of Ebola contracted in Liberia

PARIS, France – A French nurse who contracted Ebola while volunteering for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Liberia has been cured of the deadly virus, the French health minister said Saturday, October 4.

The nurse, who has not been identified, “is now cured and has left hospital,” Marisol Touraine said in a statement.

The first French national to be infected with the virus was airlifted back to France on September 19 and received experimental treatment at a military hospital on the outskirts of Paris.

Ebola has killed more than 3,300 people in west Africa in the worst-ever outbreak of the disease. (READ: Fast Facts: Ebola)

Touraine authorized the use in France of 3 experimental drugs for the treatment of Ebola including the antiviral medicine Avigan, or favipiravir, produced by Japanese firm Toyama Chemical, a subsidiary of FujiFilm Holdings.

The company says the nurse had been given Agivan, which was approved in Japan in March.

There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola. Of several prototype treatments in the pipeline, one dubbed ZMapp has been fast-tracked for use, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical in California, in conjunction with the US Army. – Rappler.com