The
tally of Ebola-related deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000,
mostly in West Africa, the World Health Organisation said.
The
UN health agency said on Thursday that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
alone had reported 10,004 confirmed, probable and suspected deaths
from the virus since the beginning of the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak in
March 2014.
There have also been eight deaths in Nigeria, six in Mali and one in the United States.
A
massive international effort to stamp out the deadly disease has
slowed the rate of infections, especially in Liberia. But the virus
appears stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
WHO’s
statement came after authorities in Sierra Leone reported a worrying
spike in infections over the past week in four districts.
Alfred
Palo Conteh, the head of the National Ebola Response Centre, said that
new Ebola hotspots have emerged in recent days in Cabala Town and
Magazine Cut in the east of the capital, Freetown, where a number of
confirmed cases have been recorded. The other hotspot is in the west of
Freetown.
Palo
Conteh added that the increase in infections of the contagious disease
was caused by a lack of public caution in “densely populated” areas.
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