Summary
With 1048 reported cases and 632 deaths since March, the West African Ebola outbreak shows no signs of tapering off and has even reached several capital cities. Several drugs and vaccines are in development against the virus, some of which have already shown great promise in animals, but have not completed human safety tests. As the outbreak worsened, debates intensified among scientists, government officials, and company executives about bringing some of these unapproved products to Africa on a so-called compassionate use basis. But the organizations fighting Ebola on the ground say they can't bring an untested, unlicensed drug or vaccine to a population that's already distrustful of the teams fighting the outbreak.