Ebola Virus Symptoms, Outbreak & News: Death Toll Surpasses 3,000, WHO Says
The Ebola outbreak, which began earlier this year in Guinea and is the worst in recorded history, has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people in West Africa.
The World Health Organization said that 3,091 people are confirmed to have died from the virus and that 6,574 cases have been reported, according to The Wall Street Journal. The WHO said it estimates there are many cases and deaths that have gone unreported.
Ebola continues to be concentrated in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and no new cases have been reported in Nigeria and Senegal, two West African countries where the disease has been found during the outbreak.
Liberia has been hit the hardest by Ebola, accounting for 1,830 of the reported deaths, BBC reported. The disease has gotten so bad in that country that it threatens to undermine the federal government.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Ebola could -- if mistreated -- infect as many as 20,000 people within the next few weeks and as many as 1.4 million by January 2015. If properly treated, the CDC predicted that Ebola could be eradicated by the end of January 2015.
To reach the CDC prediction of eradication, 70 percent of Ebola patients would have to be treated properly. Currently, only 18 percent of patients in Liberia and 40 percent of patients in Sierra Leone are treated properly.
The actual toll of Ebola come Jan. 20, 2015 is likely to be somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. Conditions are neither as bad as assumed in the worst-case scenario nor as good as assumed in the best-case.
"My gut feeling is, the actions we're taking now are going to make that worst-case scenario not come to pass," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the director of the CDC. "But it's important to understand that it could happen."
U.S. President Barack Obama said Ebola is a "threat to global security" and has pledged millions of dollars and 3,000 troops to help battle the disease in Africa. The troops will help set up additional medical facilities, which the U.S. hopes will increase proper treatment.
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