Ebola: 7,178 cases, 3,338 deaths recorded in West Africa

The United Nations on Thursday said the number of cases of the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa had risen to 7,178.

Spokesperson of UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, who gave the update while briefing reporters in New York, said latest statistics from World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that the disease had claimed 3,338 lives in the sub-region.

Dujarric said that the upward trend of the epidemic had continued in Sierra Leone and “most probably” in Liberia.

He said that the situation in Guinea appeared to be more stable, but emphasised that “in the context of an Ebola outbreak, a stable pattern of transmission is still of a very grave concern, and could change quickly”.

“In Liberia, the Head of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER), Anthony Banbury, spoke at a news conference to present the Mission’s priorities.

“He also visited Lofa’s county treatment centre and met with senior government officials, civil societies, NGOs, the UN Country team and the peacekeeping mission to gather their needs,” he said.

On funding, Dujarric said: “we would like to welcome Australia’s announcement of an additional contribution of 10 million dollars to the international response fund.

“The Special Envoy on Ebola, Dr David Nabarro, said it was exactly the kind of quick and effective response the UN is asking of Member States, given the complexity and scale of the crisis.

“This will bring Australia’s total contribution to the Ebola response to 18 million dollars, in addition to the more than 40 million dollars provided to the WHO over the past year to support global health services activities.

“We would like to encourage other countries to also intensify their support to the international response,” he said.

He added that “in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Humanitarian Coordinator, Moustapha Soumaré, has allocated 2.5 million dollars to fight the Ebola outbreak in Equateur province.

He said that 1.8 million dollars would go to the World Food Programme (WFP) to buy food and also to run the Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS), while UNICEF would receive funding for health, water, hygiene, and sanitation projects.

The spokesperson said that as at Wednesday, 43 people had died out of 70 Ebola cases in Boende district, about 600 kilometres North of Kinshasa, the capital.

He said that the UN believed that air travel to and from the West African countries affected by the Ebola virus should continue in spite of the first reported case of Ebola in the US.

According to him, it is very important not to isolate these countries as it would worsen their political and economic situations.

He said aid groups need access to the Congolese region and emphasised the importance of screening of travelers at departure and arrival points.