Brincidofovir was administered to the first patient diagnosed in the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the US in 2014. The patient was given the drug starting six days after hospital admission when he was already critically ill; he died four days later. Brincidofovir was also given to Ebola patient Ashoka Mukpo at the Nebraska Medical Center, who had developed the disease and then was pronounced Ebola-free and released from the center on 22 October 2014.In October 2014, Chimerix reported it had been given approval by the FDA to start Phase 2 trials in patients infected with ebolaviruses for brincidofovirs safety, tolerability, and efficacy. Organised by a team of scientists at the University of Oxford, including Peter Horby, Jake Dunning, Laura Merson and Trudie Lang, a trial commenced during January 2015 in Liberia, but was subsequently discontinued. Because of a lack of suitable subjects in Liberia, Oxford University and Médecins Sans Frontières planned to extend the trial to Sierra Leone, where there were still Ebola cases; but on the 30th of January 2015, the manufacturer decided to withdraw support for the trial and end discussion of future trials. Animals
In animal trials brincidofovir has shown activity against cytomegalovirus, adenoviruses, BK virus, poxviruses, and herpes simplex viruses. Brincidofovir appears to have potential for the treatment of Ebola virus disease, which is somewhat paradoxical, as ebolaviruses are RNA viruses and thus do not contain DNA as the above-mentioned viruses. References
Further reading
Kern ER, Hartline C, Harden E, Keith K, Rodriguez N, Beadle JR, Hostetler KY (April 2002).
Melorheostosis is a medical developmental disorder and mesenchymal dysplasia in which the bony cortex widens and becomes hyperdense in a sclerotomal distribution. The condition begins in childhood and is characterized by thickening of the bones. Pain is a frequent symptom and the bone can have the appearance of dripping candle wax. Cause
A randomly occurring somatic mutation of the MAP2K1 gene during fetal development is believed to be the cause. It is not known if LEMD3 mutations can cause isolated melorheostosis in the absence of osteopoikilosis or Buschke–Ollendorff syndrome. Diagnosis
Melorheostosis is a mesenchymal dysplasia manifesting as regions of dripping wax appearance or flowing candle wax appearance. The disorder can be detected by radiograph due to thickening of bony cortex resembling "dripping candle wax." It is included on the spectrum of developmental bone dysplasias including pycnodysostosis and osteopoikilosis. The disorder tends to be unilateral and monostotic (i.e. affecting a single bone), with only one limb typically involved. Cases with involvement of multiple limbs, ribs, and bones in the spine have also been reported. There are no reported cases of involvement of skull or facial bones. Melorheostosis can be associated with pain, physical deformity, skin and circulation problems, contractures, and functional limitation. It is also  associated with a benign inner ear dysplasia known as  osteosclerosis. Treatment
The disorder is progressive, with the ultimate severity of symptoms often depending on age of onset. In severe cases amputation has been performed when conservative measures such as physical therapy and regional anesthetics have been ineffective.