A plant has been found to halt the deadly ebola disease/virus in its tracks in laboratory tests, scientists have said that the extract can be eaten or rubbed into the skin. They used a compound from Garcinia kola(bitter-kola), a plant commonly eaten in west africa. Compounds from the plant have also proved effective against some strains of flu. If the anti-ebola compound proves successful in animal and human trails, it will be the first medicine to successfully treat the virus that causes ebola haemorrhagic fever an often fatal condition. The discovery was announced @d 16th international botanical congress in st. Louis in the US. The ebola virus was first documented in 1976 after an outbreak in Zaire-now Democratic Republic of Congo where 88% of the 318 human cases died. There four type of the virus: Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Ivory coast all affect humans, while Ebola-Reston has so far only affects monkeys and chimpanzees. However, Doctors have been unable to stop the virus once the infection has taken hold - hence the disease has gained a terrifying reputation. Traditional origins, Dr. Maurice Iwu, who set up and heads the Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme, led the research. Dr. Iwu said that the discovery was a breakthrough. It started 10yrs ago, when researchers were led to d plant by traditional native healers who has used d plant for treatment of infectious diseases for centuries. This is a very exciting discovery said Dr. Iwu, who himself comes originally from a family of traditional healers. The active compound is what is known as a dimeric flavonoid, which is two flavonoid molecules fused together. Flavonoid are non-toxic and can be found in orange and lemon rinds as well as colourings of other plants.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:38:27 +0000
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