'Secret serum' could save American Ebola victims as second man in Lagos falls ill

The two American doctors who have caught Ebola have been treated with a new "secret serum" which could potentially save their lives. The revelation comes as another doctor, who treated the man who died in Africa's most populous city, Lagos, fell ill with the disease.

Healthcare workers are among those most at risk of contracting the virus, which is currently killing 60 per cent of all infected people.

The US-based doctors, Dr Kent Brantly and Dr Nancy Writebol, fell ill in Liberia while treating patients infected with the deadly disease.

While there remains no cure for the virus, a representative from the US National Institutes of Health contacted Samaritan's Purse – the charity they worked for in Liberia – and offered the experimental treatment, known as ZMapp.