Not a cure but a treatment that greatly helps survive the symptoms, maybe.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/27/health/ebola-hiv-drug/
13 out of 13 that got the drug on days 0 through 4 of symptoms presentation survived and recovered fully. 2 of 2 that got it on days 5 through 8 of symptoms presentation died.
I’d say you’ve got a cure candidate. And unlike ZMapp and other concotions:
1. You don’t have to do a Phase 1 trial - they already know its safe.
2. A limited phase 2 has already been done.
3. Phase 3 and 4 don’t really matter here because a) you already know the side effects and b) you have a pandemic, but what you DO HAVE going for you here is that Lamivudine is past its patent expiration date. You can hand the recipe to as many companies as can produce it and ramp production on every continent if you like, royalty free.
I know if I was the CDC chief, and I had a report like Logan’s on my desk, I’d be flying out to check out his results stat. On top of that I’d be getting the ground ready to swing into crash production of the drug pending more information from the field.
I’d also be trying it in other places very quietly and monitoring the results.
None of that is happening.
It’s an analog of this drug:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favipiravir
http://www.nigerianeye.com/2014/09/fighting-ebola-nigeria-seeks-japanese.html
And is also an analog of this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brincidofovir
Used here:
Although, based on the success ‘days’ of the lamivudine use probably given too late for the Dallas patient. We’ll see though.