{"id":55293,"date":"2014-10-10T16:51:39","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T16:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=55293"},"modified":"2014-10-10T16:51:39","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T16:51:39","slug":"who-ebola-bigger-than-anticipated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=55293","title":{"rendered":"WHO: Ebola ‘bigger than anticipated’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading global health experts did not anticipate the scale of the Ebola outbreak, a senior health official has told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Chris Dye from the World Health Organization (WHO) said the international response was helping but needed to continue.<\/p>\n

Ebola is now\u00a0entrenched<\/a>\u00a0in the capitals of the worst-affected states – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, WHO says.<\/p>\n

The outbreak has killed more than 3,860 people, mainly in West Africa.<\/p>\n

More than 200 health workers are among the victims.<\/p>\n

Mr Dye said that that although no-one was in a position to anticipate the scale of the current outbreak, the important thing was to look forward.<\/p>\n

“We’ve asked for a response of about $1bn (\u00a3618m); so far we have around $300m (\u00a3185m) with more being pledged, so a bit less than half of what we need but it’s climbing quickly all the time,” he said.<\/p>\n

In April, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned of the potential spread of the virus, but the WHO\u00a0played down the claims<\/a>, saying that Ebola was neither an epidemic, nor was it unprecedented.<\/p>\n

On Friday MSF reported\u00a0a sharp increase of Ebola cases in the Guinean capital,<\/a>\u00a0Conakry, dashing hopes that the disease was being stabilised there.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Mali, an experimental serum is being tested on volunteer health workers.<\/p>\n

The trial spans several countries, and the results will be sent to experts to determine whether it is able to protect against Ebola.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/div>\n
Results of the clinical trial span several countries in the region, and results will be sent to a team of experts<\/div>\n
\"A<\/div>\n
Ebola is taking a particularly heavy toll in Liberia<\/div>\n
\"US<\/div>\n
The US military is building treatment centres to help Liberia cope with the outbreak<\/div>\n

Meanwhile in Spain, seven more people are being monitored in hospital for Ebola.<\/p>\n

They include two hairdressers who came into contact with Teresa Romero, a Madrid nurse who looked after an Ebola patient who had been repatriated from West Africa.<\/p>\n

Ms Romero is now reported to be gravely ill but stable.<\/p>\n

In other developments:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n