Ebola Death Toll in West Africa Tops 1,200…”epidemic is probably much worse than the official figures suggest.”
By ALAN COWELL
NYTimes.com
AUG. 19, 2014
LONDON — As West African nations grapple with the worst-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that the death toll had exceeded 1,200 and announced increased efforts to forestall hunger in areas isolated by quarantine measures.
The figure offered a familiar, grim picture of the spread of Ebola, which international health specialists say has been outpacing containment efforts since its identification in March.
The only hint of relief came from Dakar, Senegal, where Liberia’s information minister, Lewis Brown, was quoted by Reuters as saying that three African doctors treated in the country with the experimental drug ZMapp were showing “remarkable signs of improvement.” There is no licensed cure or vaccine for Ebola, which kills at least half of those infected.
Mr. Brown was also quoted as saying that 17 people believed to have been infected with Ebola who were missing from a quarantine center in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, over the weekend had been found and transferred to a specialist treatment center.
At its headquarters in Geneva, the World Health Organization said the number of people who had died in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria had reached 1,229, with 84 new fatalities reported between Aug. 14 and 16 — the latest available figures.
The total number of cases was reported as 2,240 — an increase of 113 in the same period.
International health experts say the epidemic is probably much worse than the official figures suggest. Local health officials in some countries say they are expecting a sharp increase in the number of cases as they identify patients who have stayed in hiding rather than report to public health facilities.
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