A drug to treat the Ebola virus is reported to be one step closer after US scientists were given permission to conduct human trials.
Clinical trials have been approved after a new drug was proven to be effective on monkeys.
Ebola causes death in 90% of human cases, but is always fatal to apes.
Around 1,200 people have died of the disease since 1976, but it is feared that it could be used as a bioweapon by terrorists.
Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids. Sufferers experience nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding and organ failure before they die.
In the latest tests, scientists found that the new drug cured the virus in 60% of rhesus monkeys.
It proved 100% effective in treating the closely-related Marburg virus in cynomolgus monkeys.
The US Food and Drug Administration has now given permission for trials involving a small group of human volunteers. BBC News
