The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new numbers on the death toll of those infected from the Ebola virus.
The number of deaths has risen from 3,091 out of 6,574 cases reported around the world. For the first time ever WHO is leading a health response to five major humanitarian crises at the same time.
According to the organization there are more than 60 million people, from West Africa to Iraq in urgent need of health care services.
West Africa’s Ebola outbreak has the highest risk of outbreak with an estimated 22 million people living in the worst affected countries; Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Iraq, with a population of 20 million people who could become affected follows and then Syria with 10.8 million people.
It has been six weeks since WHO was notified about the outbreak of Ebola virus in Guinea. The outbreak has since evolved into the largest, most severe and complex outbreak in the history of the disease. There is currently no vaccines or medicines approved by national regulatory authorities for use in humans.
Photo Credit: WHO
Canada is spending millions of dollars to help fight the spread of Ebola in West Africa as projected numbers could climb as high as 1.4 million by January, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. On Friday the federal government announced additional support including community care for those affected by Ebola, prevention efforts and assistance in the form of food and nutrition.
As of September 24th, 2014, 373 heath care workers have been infected by Ebola and 208 of them has died from the disease.
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