The Ebola virus has killed 1,552 people in West Africa since the outbreak began in January, the World Health Organization has announced. According to Thursday’s update, 3,069 people were affected in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. More than 40 percent of cases were recorded in the last 21 days, the statement said – a sign of the disease’s accelerating growth.
The mostly affected country is Liberia with 378 cases and 694 deaths. The overall fatality rate from the virus is 52 percent according to the organization, but this is variable between countries.
The statement also noted a separate outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, senior WHO official Bruce Aylward said the virus could contaminate 20,000 people if measures to control it were not put in place urgently. He added that $490 million is needed to combat the disease. Ebola, a contagious disease for which there is no known treatment or cure, is a tropical fever can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.