Peter Piot, the scientist who discovered the Ebola virus in 1976 in the DR Congo, said the World Health Organisation reacted too slowly to curb the epidemic in West Africa.
Piot, who made the remark in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, held that Ebola outbreak was gaining momentum and WHO only woke up to it in July.
“They took over the leadership, but it came too late,” he said.
Piot warned that Ebola outbreak could worsen in the coming weeks and turn into a “perfect storm” due to the crumbling health systems in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile, the WHO on Tuesday warned that the high proportion of health workers infected with the Ebola virus in West Africa was “unprecedented” and was hampering efforts to curb the epidemic.
It said more than 240 health workers had contracted the disease in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, while treating patients, and more than 120 have died.
It said the causes of the high infection rate among medical personnel included lack of protective equipment – even gloves and face masks – and its improper use.
Also on Tuesday, the British Department of Health said it had requested the experimental drug, ZMapp, from the WHO to treat a 29-year old British health worker who was infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone and was evacuated to London.
The department said the request was being made because ZMapp was not an approved drug and its supply was extremely limited.
The WHO said on Friday that the death toll across West Africa had risen to 1,427 with a total of 2,615 suspected or confirmed cases in the region.
dpa/NAN.