The head of the World Health Organisation, Margaret Chan has warned that the spiraling tropical Ebola epidemic demands a stronger and faster response from the international community.
“In the three hardest-hit countries, the number is moving faster than the capacity to manage them,” she told reporters in Geneva.
The alarm came as the UN said its peacekeeping force in worst-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone would “stay the course” against Ebola.
“As of 12 September, we are at 4,784 cases and more than 2,400 deaths,” Chan added.
She did not specify if the figures also included Nigeria, which has reported 18 cases, seven fatal, since the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record began in Guinea at the start of the year.
Another 500 foreign health professionals and about 1,000 local doctors and nurses are needed to stop its deadly surge through west Africa, the UN health agency said.
“The thing we need most of all is people,” Chan said.
In neighbouring Liberia, Chan said there is not a single bed left to treat Ebola patients.
Health workers in Liberia are reportedly being overwhelmed by new Ebola cases on Wednesday, with the WHO predicting an “exponential increase” in infections across the region.
The agency says that among Liberia’s 2,300 cases and 1,200 deaths, some 152 health workers have been infected and 79 have died.
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