Ebola death toll rises to 4,447

[webfact]

Ebola crisis: Outbreak death toll rises to 4,447 says WHO

(BBC) The death toll from the Ebola virus outbreak has risen to 4,447, with the large majority of victims in West Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

WHO assistant director-general Bruce Aylward also said there could be up to 10,000 new cases a week within two months if efforts were not stepped up,

But the rate of new infections in some areas has slowed down, he added.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have been hardest hit by the outbreak.

There have been 8,914 cases overall, including the fatal cases, and the WHO says it expects this number to top 9,000 by the end of the week.

The WHO estimates its figures by taking the numbers of confirmed cases and multiplying them - from Guinea by 1.5, from Sierra Leone by 2 and from Liberia by 2.5 - to account for under-reporting.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29615452


-- BBC 2014-10-15

[Chris Lawrence]

All countries should be helping out. Where and how it came about doesn;t matter. If it takes hold in other countries could be a lot more in that body count.

[phantomfiddler]

Roll your shirts up lads, it,s going to be here soon Maybe quality tourists will be the ones not carrying it

[BudRight]

When syphilis first jumped from animals to humans over a thousand years ago your face would fall off within a month. That strain was so lethal that it killed people too quickly to spread.

Modern syphilis takes years to develop symptoms because that is a winning survival strategy. Ebola is going to have to change as well, and quickly, in order to survive.

A longer and longer incubation period, and mild symptoms will render this disease quite benign.

So don't freak out yet. Evolution is on your side.