The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa could infect more than 20,000 people, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said yesterday in a bleak assessment of the deadly disease.
The United Nations health agency issued a strategic plan to combat the oubreak in four West African nations where it said the actual number of cases could already be two to four times higher than the reported 3,069. The death toll stands at 1,552.
“This roadmap assumes that in many areas of intense transmission the actual number of cases may be 2-4 fold higher than that currently reported. It acknowledges that the aggregate case load of Ebola Virus Disease could exceed 20,000 over the course of this emergency,” the WHO said.
The deadly outbreak that began in Guinea in March and has spread to neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as to Nigeria requires a massive and coordinated international response, the WHO said.
A separate outbreak of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo identified as a different strain, is not included in its toll. “Response activities must be adapted in areas of very intense transmission and particular attention must be given to stopping transmission in capital cities and major ports,” the WHO said.