Cape Town – A Kenyan businessman has reportedly made claims that the United States government owns the Ebola virus that continues to rock West African countries.
According to the Business Daily, Joseph Aura told the High Court in Nairobi that the US had patented the Ebola virus, its vaccine and cure in 2012 and should be compelled to bring the health crisis to a stop.
The claim was made in court papers supporting Aura’s request to have the Kenya High Court throw out a case filed by the Consumers Federation of Kenya lobby group seeking to compel national carrier Kenya Airways to stop flying to West African nations hit by the Ebola epidemic, the report said.
Aura made the claims as Nigeria, one of the affected West African countries, declined to use an experimental drug from the US.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised the total death toll to 1 350, and said deaths were mounting fastest in Liberia, which now accounts for at least 576, according to AP.
The disease is spread through contact with body fluids of those infected – dead or alive. The highly-contagious virus can kill up to 90% of its victims, according to reports.
WHO has maintained there is no licensed cure for the deadly viral disease.
According to Africa Review, the Ebola outbreak has left the world with a global health crisis that has paralysed businesses worth billions of shillings worldwide.