Ebola outbreak deaths pass 5,000

(BBC) The number of people killed by the worst outbreak of Ebola has risen to 5,160, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The frequency of new cases no longer appears to be increasing in Guinea and Liberia but remains high in Sierra Leone, the health agency added.

The Ebola outbreak is thought to have infected more than 14,000 people, almost all of them in West Africa.

The deaths of three more people in Mali have been reported in the past day.

"Transmission remains intense in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone" and the frequency of new cases is still increasing in Sierra Leone, the WHO said in its situation report.

According to our correspondent Imogen Foulkes, the report suggests that the resources needed to contain the virus in Sierra Leone are not in place.

Only 19 of 53 planned treatment centres are operational, while out of the 370 trained burial teams required just 140 have begun work

Health experts have argued that the rate of new cases is more significant that the total death toll, as it reflects how fast the virus is spreading.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30028859


-- BBC 2014-11-13

The WHO and the CDC have embraced a campaign of playing down the outbreak.

Those stats I was reading over 2 weeks ago. They even said that infection rates in Liberia were on the decrease, yet they report here that they are on the increase. They are constantly contradicting themselves. It isn't easy to lie to the public while using words that you can later say 'that's not what we meant'.

I have been following this outbreak for months and read all available new data on the crisis. I would say it is more accurate to say that the number of infections is well above 20,000 and the deaths well over 7,000.

They claim that infections rates are still rising, yet in the past 6 weeks only about 800 have died? ... sorry but that is not possible with a mortality rate of 71%. Infections rises from 8,000 in early October to 14,000 in mid November..... what is 71% of 6,000?

They also claimed that last week infections was receding and that ebola hospitals never had a single patient, here they are saying that they still don't have enough medical logistics in place.

This is all being played down to quell panic and public demand for banning people coming from west Africa in to the USA. Nothing more, nothing less.

I find it disturbing that an international agency is lying to the world.