August 12, 2014 12:15 pm JST
Ebola outbreak deaths in West Africa top 1,000: WHO
NAIROBI (Kyodo) -- The death toll from the Ebola virus
outbreak in West Africa has reached 1,013 as of Friday, according to the
World Health Organization's latest update.
The dead are among 1,848 confirmed or suspected cases of infection with Ebola, in the deadliest outbreak since the hemorrhagic fever-causing virus was first documented in 1976.
According to the WHO update, Guinea reported 373 deaths, followed by Liberia with 323 and Sierra Leone with 315. Nigeria reported two deaths.
The toll is likely to rise further as infected victims succumb to the "Zaire" species of virus behind the current outbreak, which in past outbreaks has had a roughly 80 percent mortality rate.
The current outbreak, which started in Guinea last December, has claimed around 800 lives in the past two months in its rapid spread to neighboring countries.
On Thursday, the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and called for an international response.
Concern is mounting about the risk of infected victims spreading the virus through air travel, after an American man died in Nigeria of the disease having flown from Liberia.
Airlines operating as far away as Europe, the Middle East and Asia are isolating and evaluating travelers with Ebola-like symptoms.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency said Tuesday it has decided to temporarily withdraw its staff working in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Japanese development agency said its decision to pull the roughly 20 workers out of the affected countries is due to the risk of local instability as well as that of infection with the virus.
The dead are among 1,848 confirmed or suspected cases of infection with Ebola, in the deadliest outbreak since the hemorrhagic fever-causing virus was first documented in 1976.
According to the WHO update, Guinea reported 373 deaths, followed by Liberia with 323 and Sierra Leone with 315. Nigeria reported two deaths.
The toll is likely to rise further as infected victims succumb to the "Zaire" species of virus behind the current outbreak, which in past outbreaks has had a roughly 80 percent mortality rate.
The current outbreak, which started in Guinea last December, has claimed around 800 lives in the past two months in its rapid spread to neighboring countries.
On Thursday, the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and called for an international response.
Concern is mounting about the risk of infected victims spreading the virus through air travel, after an American man died in Nigeria of the disease having flown from Liberia.
Airlines operating as far away as Europe, the Middle East and Asia are isolating and evaluating travelers with Ebola-like symptoms.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency said Tuesday it has decided to temporarily withdraw its staff working in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The Japanese development agency said its decision to pull the roughly 20 workers out of the affected countries is due to the risk of local instability as well as that of infection with the virus.
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