Latest Ebola News: Ebola outbreak has affected over one million people

The latest update issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlights that the Ebola outbreak has affected more than a million people in West Africa. According to the update, Ebola certainly does not show any signs of an early end. The world is in a severe health crisis which calls for 'extraordinary measures' to stop the spread of the disease.

WHO notes that about 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease and 56 deaths were reported in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone between August 10 and 11. This raises the total number of Ebola cases to 1,975 and death toll to 1,069.

WHO director general Margaret Chan said more than one million people are affected by the disease and these people need daily material support, including food. The infected people are in the 'hot zone of disease transmission' on the borders of the three countries most impacted by the disease. 'There is no early end (to the outbreak) in sight. This is an extraordinary outbreak that requires extraordinary measures for containment. This is a severe health crisis, and it can rapidly become a humanitarian crisis if we do not do more to stop transmission,' Chan said during a briefing in Geneva yesterday.

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UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon chaired a UN system-wide coordination on Ebola and stressed the need for the entire UN system to support the WHO's efforts in combatting the outbreak. Chan said the outbreak has placed every city with an international airport at risk of an imported case. 'Decisions to seal off the hot zone of disease transmission, that is, the area where the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone intersect, are critical for stopping the reinfection of areas via the cross-border movement of people,' she said.

Chan said that the isolation of the zone most affected by the outbreak has made it even more difficult for agencies, like MSF (Doctors without Borders), to bring in staff and supplies. 'The outbreak is unprecedented in its size, severity, and complexity. Cases are occurring in remote rural areas that are difficult to access, but also in capital cities,' she said. (Read: Ebola virus causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and prevention)

Source: PTI

Photo source: Getty images

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