MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – The death toll from the Ebola virus decease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa has risen to 932 after 45 new deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday.
“As of 4 August 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to EVD in the four countries stands at 1,711, including 932 deaths,” the WHO said in a statement.
As the death toll in the outbreak of the lethal virus continues to rise, the WHO said it would hold a meeting of its emergency committee on Wednesday and Thursday to assess the threat of a global emergency.
The new Ebola outbreak, the deadliest to date, was first registered in Guinea in February and soon spilled over into Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria. It has a fatality rate of nearly 90 percent.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the blood, body fluids or tissue of infected animals or people. Symptoms of the disease include a 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. There is currently no licensed vaccine for the disease.
