It has been disappointment galore for Nigerians since the US confirmed the much anticipated Nigerian made Ebola Vaccine Nano-silver as an insecticide and a fraud.
The hope which had been raised and the relief which came with the announcement that a Nigerian in diaspora had developed another vaccine similar to the experimental Zmap ended in spreads, even as the Ebola Virus continues to spread like wild fire with health workers abandoning patients in hospitals.
Despite the experimental drug getting approval for use by the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is claiming that Nano-silver is a pesticide
Nano-silver, is currently being sold online with claims that it prevents or treat Ebola, however the American regulatory body have tagged it a fraud.
The FDA’s warning comes on the heels of comments by Nigeria’s top health official, Onyebuchi Chukwu, who reportedly said earlier Thursday, August 14, that eight Ebola patients in Lagos, the country’s capital, will receive an experimental treatment called Nano-silver.
Silver has been used as an antibacterial for centuries. Tiny silver particles known as nano-silver have controversially been incorporated into a variety of consumer products such as socks and bedding to help block odors caused by bacteria and mold.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers nano-silver a pesticide. Manufacturers of products that contain it must register them with the agency.
Nano-silver is also sometimes sold online as a dietary supplement even though Danish researchers found in a recent study that nano-silver can penetrate and damage cells.
The FDA regulates dietary supplements and said in its statement that “by law, dietary supplements cannot claim to prevent or cure disease.”
The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa has claimed 1,069 lives so far. Most have been in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Nigeria has confirmed 10 cases of the disease and four deaths.
Post Views: 992
