Ebola has claimed 4,877 lives, says WHO

The World Health Organisation said the Ebola Virus Disease had claimed 4,877 lives globally.
In its latest report on the disease released at the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States of America, the organization said a total of 9,936 cases of the disease had so far been recorded across the world.
Making the report available to the News Agency of Nigeria Correspondent at the UN, Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said the capacity of management of Ebola cases had increased.
Haq told NAN that the capacity had been increased substantially in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, three of the most affected countries, adding, however, that even with the increase in capacity “it still remains far short of requirements”.
He said that Guinea had 61 per cent of the required bed capacity in Ebola treatment units, while Liberia stood at only 23 per cent and Sierra Leone, 29 per cent.
He disclosed that the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee had presented its conclusions on the disease in Geneva.
Haq said that the primary emphasis was to continue to stop the transmission of Ebola within the three affected countries with intense transmission.
According to him, the committee reiterated its recommendation that there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.
He said that the committee stated that a general travel ban was likely to cause economic hardship and could increase uncontrolled migration of people from affected countries and raise the risk of international spread of the virus.
The committee, Haq also said, stressed that exit screening in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone remained critical for reducing the exportation of Ebola cases.
He added that a number of states without Ebola transmission had decided “to or are considering cancelling international meetings and mass gatherings.”
He explained that though the committee did not recommend such cancellations, it recognised that these were complex decisions that must be taken on case-by-case basis.
NAN reports that the WHO’s report revealed that the committee had met three times in three months to evaluate ongoing response to the global Ebola crisis.
The meeting is convened periodically to advise the WHO Director-General on the risks associated with disease outbreaks and to deliver recommendations on travel and trade restrictions.
The group first met in August, after which WHO declared Ebola a public health emergency of international concern
It recommended the implementation of exit screenings for travelers who were sick or were in contact with those infected.