EBOLA ALERT ... LOOK WHO'S TALKING : US authorities warn that anti-ebola drug sent to Nigeria is a registered pesticide

PHARMACEUTICAL authorities in the US have warned that the new anti-ebola drug Nanosilver being sent to Lagos today by a Nigerian in the diaspora may not be medically suited for its purpose as it is registered as a pesticide.   
Today, Nigeria is due to take delivery of the drug called Nanosilver  after a diasporan scientist decided to make it available in response to the growing spread of the virus across the country. 
However, the US drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has refused to endorse the drug.   Erica Jefferson, an FDA spokeswoman, said she could not provide any information about the product referenced by the Nigerians. Nanosilver has been used as an antibacterial for centuries and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers it a pesticide.   
Over recent days, the FDA has  warned about several products being sold online that fraudulently claim to prevent or treat ebola.
Apart from being used as a pesticide, tiny silver particles known as Nanosilver have controversially been incorporated into a variety of consumer products such as socks and bedding to help block odours caused by bacteria and mould.   
Manufacturers of products that contain it must register them with the agency but so far, it has not been used as a medicinal drug.  Nanosilver is also sometimes sold online as a dietary supplement even though Danish researchers found in a recent study that it can penetrate and damage cells.   
In the US, the FDA regulates dietary supplements and has recently pointed out that by law, dietary supplements cannot claim to prevent or cure disease.  According to the agency, it had received consumer complaints about the ebola claims.   Mr Jefferson added: “Individuals promoting these unapproved and fraudulent products must take immediate action to correct or remove these claims or face potential FDA action.”   
Over recent weeks, the ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa has claimed 1,069 lives so far, mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Nigeria has confirmed 10 cases of the virus and four deaths, which prompted health minister Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, to write to the US Centre for Disease Control asking it to send samples of the experimental serum currently being worked upon.   On Wednesday, the Nigerian government authorised the use of experimental drugs after the US sent ZMapp, another experimental drug, to Liberia. Canada too has decided to donate 1,000 vaccines to the affected countries.