Ebola spread shows no signs of slowing as death toll nears 4,000

GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The Ebola epidemic continues to worsen, with the death toll nearing 4,000 with no signs of slowing, the World Health Organization said in its latest report Wednesday.

With 3,865 deaths recorded so far and 8,033 confirmed cases, the WHO said conditions at the heart of the outbreak in West Africa continue "to deteriorate, with widespread and persistent transmission of EVD."

In Guinea, Libera and Sierra Leone, where all but 22 of the confirmed cases have been found, 35 percent of the total cases since the outbreak began in February were detected in just the past three weeks.

The report also noted that a slight decrease in the number of new cases in Liberia in the past three weeks is likely to be the fault of poor data gathering, rather than a genuine slowing of the spread of the disease.

"It reflects a deterioration in the ability of overwhelmed responders to record accurate epidemiological data," the WHO said. "It is clear from field reports and first responders that EVD cases are being under-reported from several key locations, and laboratory data that have not yet been integrated into official estimates indicate an increase in the number of new cases in Liberia."

"There is no evidence that the EVD epidemic in West Africa is being brought under control, though there is evidence of a decline in incidence in the districts of Lofa in Liberia, and Kailahun and Kenema in Sierra Leone."

The report, which relays data through the week ending Oct. 5, does not include in its totals the nurse in Spain who, while treating two people who contracted the virus in West Africa, became the first person to become infected with Ebola outside of Africa. Neither does it make note of the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who became the first case discovered in the U.S.

WHO Ebola report 8 Oct 2014