WHO: global Ebola cases are nearing 9,000
Updated : 19:55
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the Ebola outbreak is worsening in the three West Africa countries where the disease is concentrated.
The United Nations health agency said 4,493 people had died of confirmed, suspected or probable cases of Ebola, almost all of them in West Africa and that a total of 8,997 cases have been reported.
The latest report adds to growing concerns over the three African countries where the virus is at its strongest.
“The situation in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone is deteriorating, with widespread and persistent transmission of Ebola,” the WHO said.
The organization said problems gathering data in Liberia “make it hard to draw any firm conclusions.”
On Tuesday, Bruce Aylward, WHO's assistant director-general in charge of the Ebola response, said the disease was killing 70% of the people infected by it and warned that between 5,000 and 10,000 new cases a week could be reported by early December.
US authorities reported earlier on Wednesday that a Texas healthcare worker had become the second man to have contracted disease in the state, as he tested positive for the virus after treating a Liberian man who died of the disease in Dallas a week ago.