The death toll in the world’s worst Ebola epidemic has risen to 5,689 out of 15,935 cases reported in eight countries by November 23, the World Health Organization said.
Almost all cases and all but 15 deaths have been in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia – the three hardest-hit countries, which reported 600 new cases in the past week, the WHO said in its latest update, Reuters reported.
“The total number of cases reported in Sierra Leone since the outbreak began will soon eclipse the number reported from Liberia,” it said. The former British colony has reported 6,599 cases against 7,168 in Liberia.
Transmission of the virus remains intense in Sierra Leone, especially in the west and north, with the capital Freetown still the worst affected area, it said.
Contacts of people known to be infected should be monitored for symptoms including fever, but relatively low numbers being reported “suggest that in districts with high case incidence fewer contacts are currently registered in connection with each new case than is necessary to accurately monitor chains of transmission”, the WHO warned.
Mali has reported 8 Ebola cases, six of them fatal, and 285 contacts exposed to the virus there are being checked, it said.
WHO teams are evaluating the preparedness of neighboring countries to combat Ebola, and visits are planned to the Central African Republic, Niger, and Ethiopia next week, it said.
