Ebola panic(2)

Looking for a cure

There is currently no known vaccine or effective cure for EVD. At present, treatment for the virus is based only on alleviating the symptoms of the disease, according to Yu.

"Until now, the way we approach treatment for patients who have contracted Ebola is the same as the way we approach treatment for patients who have the common cold. We only treat the symptoms," said Yu. "For instance, if the patient has a fever, we will give them medicine to reduce the fever."

Although scientists in both the US and China are hard at work trying to find an antibody for the virus that can be developed into a vaccine, Yu said that there were a number of obstacles to creating a cure, and there was still a long way to go before a vaccine might be made available to the public. To develop a safe vaccine, the virus needs first to be reproduced in a controlled laboratory environment. Once an antibody is found that might effectively combat the virus, it must first be tested on the animals. If this stage is successful, it will undergo clinical trials with patients, and only then, if the vaccine is proven to be both safe and effective, can it be approved for mass production, said Yu.

The process would be both arduous and costly, he added.

"Developing the vaccine requires the use of a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory - the highest safety level - because fostering the virus is extremely dangerous," said Yu. "There are very few such laboratories in the world."

Nevertheless, initial steps to find a cure have been promising. According to the Guardian, the two American doctors who contracted Ebola have been given an experimental antibody treatment, and both were showing signs of recovery.

"The concept was to delay replication of the virus, so that the body's own immune system can work," said Shen. "However, there is yet to be proof that it will work."

Beijing mobilizes

The Xinhua News Agency reported on August 11 that China has sent a group of medical workers to West Africa to aid efforts in response to the Ebola outbreak.

Closer to Beijing, precautions have already been taken by hospitals and medical care centers in the event that EVD spreads to China. Ma Yanming, an official at the Beijing Health Bureau, reassured people living in the city that they have nothing to fear from the virus.

According to Ma, after the SARS epidemic in 2003 which resulted in more than 500 Chinese deaths and put Beijing in the spotlight for its slow response, the capital "has a much more complete system in place to supervise and deal with an epidemic should it occur."

"[The public] have nothing to worry about," Ma said. "We have taken the necessary precautions, and in cooperation with the Beijing Disease Control and Prevention Center, we have given training to staff in Beijing hospitals to be on the alert for any patients carrying symptoms of Ebola virus. Any patients who have fever or show unusual symptoms will be carefully monitored. We are also keeping a close eye on incoming passengers from international flights."

On Sunday, a man who boarded a flight from Nigeria arrived in Hong Kong with fever-like symptoms. After a brief but intense period of public speculation, the man was reported to have tested negative for the Ebola virus that same night.

Over 10 million comments were posted on social media platform Sina Weibo in response to the scare, with some posts expressing concern about incoming African participants arriving in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province for the Youth Olympic Games later this month. The Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau said that they are screening passengers coming from African countries for symptoms of EVD, and that any passengers who are discovered to have the virus will immediately be reported to the relevant authorities and quarantined.

To reduce the risk of contracting the virus, Ma recommended that Beijing residents not travel to areas that are known to be infected at the moment.

"It's better that people not travel to countries in Africa at this moment," said Ma. "And if you are coming in from an infected country, and start to feel unwell, you should see a doctor immediately."