Number of Ebola Infections in West Africa Passes 16,000
It’s still there, and getting worse.
Before the November elections in the USA, you would have thought Ebola was going to spread across the States like wildfire, judging from the politically motivated fear-mongering in the media.
But the elections are over, and Americans have put their heads back into the sand. Meanwhile, thousands of West Africans suffer from the disease.
The number of people with Ebola in west Africa has risen above 16,000, with the death toll from the outbreak reaching almost 7,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says.
The number of deaths is more than 1,000 higher than the figure issued by the WHO just two days ago, but it is thought to include deaths that have gone unreported in the weeks or months since the outbreak began. Most of the new deaths were recorded in Liberia.
The WHO has warned that its figures could be a significant underestimation of the number of infections and deaths. Data from the outbreak has been patchy and the totals often rise considerably when backlogs of information are cleared. The latest confirmed data shows that almost half those known to have been infected with Ebola have died.
More: Number of Ebola Infections in West Africa Passes 16,000
One noteworthy tidbit from the Guardian article. Two girls who came to the UK and were suspected to be carrying Ebola were not found to be carriers of the disease. Their names and ages were not released.
Nice to know some media agencies value the public’s privacy.