2nd Ebola case confirmed in Lagos, Nigeria; 8 more suspected

The authorities in Nigeria have confirmed a second case of Ebola in the capital of Lagos as an experimental serum seems to be helping nurse Americans quarantined in Atlanta back to health.

Reuters says that the health authorities are also investigating eight other cases. All the cases under investigation involved people who came into contact with Patrick Sawyer, the first confirmed case of Ebola in Nigeria.

Sawyer, a Liberian and U.S. citizen, died after collapsing at the Lagos airport shortly after disembarking from a flight from Liberia. The second confirmed case is a Nigerian doctor who treated Sawyer.

A different Reuters report describes the experimental treatment that was given to two Americans who have fallen ill with the disease and are being held in quarantine in Atlanta.

Mapp Biopharmaceutial Inc. of San Diego, California manufactures the drug, which had previously only been tested on monkeys. The two Americans who came down with Ebola were given the drug in Liberia, where they fell ill, and seemed to respond positively to it.

The drug is known as ZMapp.

Mapp has said that the company is working in conjunction with the government to increase the production of the drug as swiftly as possible.

In addition to Mapp, a Canadian firm called Tekmira Pharmaceuticals is also working on an experimental treatment for Ebola, which depending on the strain, can kill 90 percent of those who fall ill.

Tekmira's drug was further along than Mapp's. Tekmira had already begun testing their drug's efficacy on humans back in March 2014.

When news of Tekmira's drug broke, their stock value rose by 70 percent in the last three weeks. Monday, August 4, saw the stock climb by 18 percent alone. After news of Mapp's treatment broke, Tekmira's stock dropped 7 percent.