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news.The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the number of people being infected with the deadly Ebola virus disease in West Africa could reach up to 10,000 a week by the end of the December.
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An official from WHO noted that the death rate due to this deadly disease has now increased to 70%.
The death toll from the Ebola virus outbreak has risen to 4,447 of the 8,914 reported cases, with the large majority of victims from the three West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
WHO assistant director-general Dr Bruce Aylward said that the response to the Ebola crisis should be quickened in the next 60 days, otherwise ‘a lot more people will die’. With the increasing number of cases, there will be a huge need on the ground to tackle the situtation.
There have been around 1,000 new cases per week in the last four weeks and this figure includes suspected, confirmed and probable cases.
It is reported that a United Nations medical employee, who contracted the disease while working in Liberia, died despite being given intensive medical treatment at St. Georg hospital in Leipzig, Germany.
The victim was a Sudanese and was working as a laboratory technician at the United Nations mission in Liberia.
Separately, the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is planning to help West African countries fight the Ebola epidemic with nuclear-related technology that can quickly diagnose the disease.
The IAEA assistance will supplement Sierra Leone’s ability to diagnose Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) quickly using a diagnostic technology known as Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
As part of its plans, the IAEA will deliver specialised equipment such as an RT-PCR machine, cooling systems, biosecurity equipment, diagnostic kits and other materials to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in coming weeks.
IAEA director general Yukiya Amano said: "Transfer of nuclear-related technologies is a key part of the Agency’s work, and we have cooperated with Member States for years to develop and strengthen their capacity to use this nuclear-derived technology.
"With this additional support, the Agency makes a small but effective contribution to global efforts to fight the ongoing Ebola outbreak."
According to IAEA, the nuclear-derived diagnostic technology ‘RT-PCR’ allows the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to be detected within a few hours, while other methods require growing on a cell culture for several days before a diagnosis is determined.
Image: Ebola virus virion. Photo: courtesy of CDC/Cynthia Goldsmith.