UNITED NATIONS, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on the Ebola virus outbreak on Thursday, September 18, the US Ambassador to the United Nations said.
"Because of the increasingly grim situation, particularly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea the United States has requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council this Thursday, Sept. 18…. This outbreak is controllable, Ebola is treatable, and victims can survive," Samantha Power said Monday, adding it was important to avoid panic.
Power said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will inform the Security Council about the virus situation.
The Security Council announced earlier in the day its decision to extend the the stay of the 4,619-person UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia until the end of the year, despite the raving virus. According to the resolution passed Monday, the situation in Liberia continues to threaten the international peace and security in the region.
The Ebola death toll in West Africa has reached above 2,400 since the epidemic started in March, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The cases of the virus have been registered in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
The Ebola virus mortality rate currently stands at 53 percent. There is no officially approved medication for the disease, and experts claim prevention is the only cure. Several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
