Ebola death toll in West Africa passes 1,000

(The Philippine Star)

August 12, 2014 - 11:07am

Guinea Police secure the area around a man who collapsed in a puddle of water on the street, and people would not approach him as they fear he may be suffering from the Ebola virus in the city of Conakry, Guinea, Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. The man lay in the street for several hours before being taken to an Ebola control centre for assessment. The World Health Organization has began an emergency meeting on the Ebola crisis, and said at least 932 deaths in four countries are blamed on the virus, with many hundreds more being treated in quarantine conditions. AP

DAKAR, Senegal — The World Health Organization says the death toll in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has passed 1,000.

The U.N. health agency said in a news release Monday that 1,013 people have died in the outbreak, which has hit Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and possibly Nigeria.

Authorities have recorded 1,848 suspected, probable or confirmed cases of the disease, which causes a high fever, vomiting and bleeding. The outbreak was first identified in March in Guinea, but it likely started months earlier.

The updated WHO tally includes figures from Aug. 7- 9 when 52 more people died and 69 more were infected.

Ebola is highly lethal and there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for the disease, but so far three people infected have received an experimental drug.

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