Head of UN Ebola Response Says Outbreak May End This Summer

March 23, 2015 9:46 AM EDT

The Ebola outbreak that has claimed thousands of lives in West Africa could end by the summer, a top health official said.

“We have been running away from giving any specific date, but I am pretty sure myself that it will be gone by the summer,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the head of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, told the BBC.

While there are still confirmed cases of Ebola in the most affected countries—Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone—the outbreak has been substantially declining over the last few months. The requirement for declaring a country “Ebola-free” is to reach 42 days with no new cases, and Guinea recently experienced an uptick in infections.

The widespread emergence of the outbreak is about to reach one year. To date, over 24,000 people have been infected with Ebola, and over 10,000 have died from the disease.

[BBC]

See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola

An worker inspects the Nicotiana benthamiana plants at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City — Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters

Icon Genetics Provides Technology For Possible Ebola Treatment — Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies.Sean Gallup—Getty Images

Nicotiana benthamiana plants are dipped in a solution during the infiltration process at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City — To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters

An worker shows the difference between the leaf of the Nicotiana benthamiana plant before (top) and after (botom) the infiltration process at Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City — The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein.Mathieu Belanger—Reuters

Listen to the most important stories of the day.

Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says

See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola

More Must-Reads From TIME