Ebola cases could soar to 10,000: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) says the number of people diagnosed with Ebola is likely to soar to 10,000 in West Africa.

The UN’s public health body said on Wednesday that more than 9,930 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which are the three countries worst hit by the epidemic, have contracted the disease.

Ebola has so far claimed nearly 4,880 lives.

The WHO figures come as experts have warned that the rate of infection could face a major increase by early December.

The organization said after an emergency meeting on the deadly virus that the situation in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone “remains of great concern,” describing the epidemic as “a public health emergency of international concern.”

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO deputy chief, said 600 international experts have been sent to the West African region in recent weeks. He also touched upon major efforts to “break the chain of transmission” via establishing special Ebola wards.

“But it has been terrifically difficult to get enough health workers — both domestic health workers as well as international health workers — and this continues to be one of the major challenges,” Fukuda stated.

A total of 244 health workers out of 443 cases have succumbed to the disease across the affected countries.

Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever whose symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected blood, feces or sweat. It can be also spread through sexual contact or the unprotected handling of contaminated corpses. There is currently no known cure for Ebola.

MR/HSN/SS