Survivors of the Ebola virus may be the key to helping stop the spread, without the presence of a drug stock.

The blood of survivors should contain antibodies that might help other patients fight off the infection, the New York Times reported.

Treatment drugs are not available, including the only experimental drug that was used on some infected patients with mixed results - Zmapp, by a San Diego company -- so the World Health Organization is looking at all other available options.

"The concept that this treatment could be efficacious is biologically plausible, as convalescent plasma has been used successfully for the treatment of a variety of infectious agents," the W.H.O. said in a document, the NYT reported.

But some virologists say the idea is unlikely to be successful because tests in monkeys were not positive.

There are concerns especially of introducing this type of treatment method in countries with a shortage of medical staff and underdevelopment.

One of the associated challenges will be to make sure that donated blood does not transfer H.I.V. or hepatitis.

But, despite the challenges and risks, it is one of the most readily available options right now.

"The attraction is, at least on the surface, it is something that could be implemented readily," Daniel Bausch, an expert on Ebola at Tulane University, said.

The NYT reported that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which recently made its largest donation toward the aid for Ebola in West Africa, supports the plasma treatment.

And the method has been used outside of the countries by some of the infected health workers who recovered.

"Blood is donated in West Africa every day of the week for surgery and other things and could be safely tested for viruses," said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust.

Dr. Kent Brantly, an American aid worker who recovered after being infected in Liberia, received a blood transfusion from a boy who had recovered, the NYT reported.