Ebola Death Toll Tops 1,900: 400 Deaths Reported in One Week – Prepare for Alarming Rise in Numbers, as Outbreak Spreads
The United Nations said it would take $600 million in supplies to control an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa as the death toll from the worst ever epidemic of the virus topped 1,900 and Guinea warned it had penetrated a new part of the country. The pace of the infection has accelerated, with close to 400 deaths in the past week, officials said on Wednesday. It was first detected deep in the forests of southeastern Guinea in March. The hemorrhagic fever has now spread to five countries in the region and has killed more people than all outbreaks since Ebola was first uncovered in 1976. “This Ebola epidemic is the longest, the most severe and the most complex we’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) at a press conference in Washington, adding that there were more than 3,500 cases across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Dr. David Nabarro, senior U.N. Coordinator for Ebola, said the cost of getting the supplies needed by West Africa countries to control the crisis would amount to $600 million. That was higher than an estimate of $490 million by the WHO last week. Dr Rick Sacra, a 51-year-old Boston physician infected with Ebola in Liberia, could be medically evacuated as soon as Thursday, according to staff at the hospital where he worked.
Two other Americans recovered from the virus after being taken for treatment in the United States last month. Guinea, the first country to detect the virus, previously said it was containing the outbreak but announced that nine new cases had been found in the prefecture of Kerouane, some 750 km (470 miles) southeast of the capital Conakry. “There has been a new outbreak in Kerouane, but we have sent in a team to contain it,” said Aboubacar Sikidi Diakité, head of Guinea’s Ebola task force. The latest outbreak started after the arrival of an infected person from neighboring Liberia, and a total of 18 people were under observation in the region, the health ministry said…
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