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Will Pooley, the first British person to contract the Ebola virus, has been given an experimental drug as part of his treatment in London, it has been revealedon Tuesday.
Pooley, a 29-year-old nurse from Eyke in Suffolk, was flown back to the UK by the RAF on Sunday after contracting Ebola while volunteering at a treatment centre for people with the deadly virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone.
Dr Michael Jacobs, clinical director of infectious diseases at the Royal Free hospital in Hampstead, north London, where Pooley is being treated in a specialist unit, said he was doing well, describing him as a "resilient and remarkable young man".
At a press conference at the hospital, Jacobs said: "We had the opportunity to give him the ZMapp treatment. It is an experimental medicine, we made that absolutely clear in our discussions with him." He said that it was too early to say how Pooley was responding but he had not shown any side-effects from the drug.
Pooley, who is in a specially designed tent with a controlled ventilation system, has been given his first dose of ZMapp and will be given further doses over the course of the next week.
Last night Unicef said that it had airlifted 100 tonnes of health and hygiene supplies to Liberia, strengthening national efforts to combat the epidemic.
There is no proven cure for Ebola, which has killed more than 1,400 people, but two US aid workers recovered after being treated with ZMapp, raising hopes about its efficacy. However, a Liberian doctor who received the drug died on Sunday and a Spanish missionary priest treated with ZMapp has also died from the virus. Some people have responded to treatment with intravenous fluids and body salts.
The Department of Health had apparently been trying to obtain supplies of ZMapp, but the manufacturer said high demand meant it had no remaining stocks. Jacobs said the team treating the nurse had sourced the drug through its clinical networks with the help of international colleagues. Pooley, who fell ill after five weeks volunteering at the Kenema government hospital, made the ultimate decision to take the drug, expressing enthusiasm at the prospect, said Jacobs.
He said Pooley's condition had been stable since he was taken to the hospital under police escort on Sunday and he had been sitting up in bed, reading and chatting to staff. "It's fair to say that we couldn't hope to be in a better place today given where he is with the illness," he said. Explaining why Pooley had been given the experimental drug when he appeared to be doing well, Jacobs stressed that they wanted to give him the best care possible and that his condition was subject to change. He admitted: "We were rather limited in our knowledge about the medicine but we thought there was sufficient reason to go ahead."
Jacobs said the team treating Pooley had been well prepared, having known that it was only a matter of time before they would have a patient with the Ebola virus and that they had treated people with similar infections in the past.
He said that Pooley's prognosis would be clearer in a week's time. "It remains a very, very variable course and the next few days are going to be very critical for him."
The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told Sky News: "We are very clear that the risk level from transporting Mr Pooley over to London remains very low.
" I'm actually really proud of what the NHS has been able to offer to a very, very brave man."I think the public can be reassured, not just by the precautions that we're taking but by the superb care that he's received."
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