However, Jose Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Columbus Department of Public Health, says the patient is not being tested for Ebola.
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He added that the work “justifies further studies” of the treatment and may even help to “prevent a major route of spread during an epidemic”. Earlier, the WHO declared Liberia Ebola-free after about 4,700 people died because of the virus.
The 39-year-old, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, was initially treated in Glasgow’s Gartnavel Hospital before spending several weeks in isolation receiving treatment at the Royal Free Hospital before making a full recovery.
Four of the eight healthcare workers were classified as having low-risk exposures and the other four had intermediate- or maximum-risk exposures.
Favipiravir works as a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) – a drug used in an attempt to prevent a virus taking hold after a possible infection.
Previous lab tests and experiments in mice suggested the drug could be effective against Ebola, according to background information in the news release. They weren’t given the drug, but were closely monitored instead. None of those patients were diagnosed with Ebola.
All eight patients remained healthy over 42 days of follow-up, the study authors said.
While it cannot be known whether the two had actually contracted Ebola, researchers said this was the first time such a high risk event had not resulted in an Ebola infection.
The researchers noted that health care workers dealing with Ebola in West Africa are at high risk for infection.
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Two cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the U.S.; one case was fatal.
