MOSCOW, August 15 (RIA Novosti) - The World Health Organization experts believe that the numbers of reported cases and deaths by Ebola virus in West Africa "vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak,” the WHO press office said Friday.
“CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is equipping the hardest-hit countries with computer hardware and software that will soon allow real-time reporting of cases and analysis of trends,” the WHO added.
The West African outbreak of Ebola virus disease, which has no known cure, was declared an international public health emergency by the UN a week ago.
According to the WHO, the current Ebola outbreak has already claimed 1,069 lives in the West Africa countries. A total of 1,975 cases have been confirmed.
The worst Ebola outbreak in history started in February in Guinea and then spread to Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola hemorrhagic fever has a fatality rate of nearly 90 percent. The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of the infected. Symptoms of the disease include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, kidney and liver problems, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
