Thousands more dead as Ebola outbreak continues

The West African Ebola outbreak is showing no signs of slowing or stopping, and nearly 4,000 people have died since the outbreak began back in early 2014.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that 3,879 people have died from Ebola in West Africa, mostly from the countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

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The WHO is also worried that the outbreak could threaten other West African nations, but the United Nation's Ebola response coordinator is more optimistic that the outbreak can still be contained.

"If we can reduce the number of people who are passing on their infection to others by about 70%, then the outbreak will come to an end," said Dr. David Nabarro, the senior U.N. coordinator for the international response to Ebola.

"If, on the other hand, people continue to be able to transmit the virus to others when they have been ill, then the outbreak will continue and continue growing at the rate it is."

As of October 7, 8,033 people have been infected with Ebola, a WHO report revealed.

"The situation in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone continues to deteriorate, with widespread and persistent transmission of Ebola," the WHO report said. "There is no evidence that the EVD epidemic in West Africa is being brought under control."

The WHO also believes that the early reports about the fall of new Ebola cases in Liberia is "unlikely to be genuine" and instead may simply show how overwhelmed the aid workers in the region are by data.

More chillingly, the WHO has told countries that neighbor the affected countries that they should be preparing for the disease to cross into their border.

Of the nations currently fighting the outbreak, Liberia has suffered the most. So far it has over half of the total death toll-2,210-while Sierra Leone has 879 deaths.

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