DHAKA: Liberia will receive an untested experimental drug, Zmapp, to treat people infected with Ebola, the Liberian government says.

The move came after a request to the US from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, reports BBC.

The news came as medical ethics specialists met in Geneva to explore the use of such new treatments.

The World Health Organization, which is hosting the meeting, says some 1,013 have died from Ebola in West Africa.

“The experimental drugs are to be brought in the country by a representative of the US government later this week,” a statement on the Liberian president’s website said.

However, US government officials said its role had been to put Liberian officials in contact with Zmapp maker Mapp Biopharmaceutical.

BDST: 1012 HRS, AUG 12, 2014