Study finds 2 new drugs are highly effective in treating Ebola

Preliminary results show that two new Ebola drugs appear to be highly effective when it comes to treating people with the virus.

Scientists studied four experimental drugs, and found that a compound developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and another created by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) "may be able to improve the survival of people with Ebola," Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH told The Associated Press.

The drugs are both antibodies that block the virus, and researchers found a mortality rate of 30 percent for those who received the treatments; the mortality rate for another drug, ZMapp, was 50 percent. When patients received the treatments earlier, mortality rates dropped to 6 percent with the Regeneron drug and 11 percent with the NIH compound, compared to 24 percent with ZMapp.

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Over the last year, Ebola has killed more than 1,800 people in Congo, and all treatment centers in the country now have access to these two drugs. "Getting people into care more quickly is absolutely vital," Dr. Michael Ryan of the World Health Organization told AP. "The fact that we have very clear evidence now on the effectiveness of the drugs, we need to get that message out to communities."