GENEVA, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - The number of people infected with the Ebola virus will top 9,000 before the end of this week, the assistant director general of the World Health organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
"It's 8,914 cases, the number today. We will go over 9,000 cases this week," Bruce Aylward told journalists, adding that the number of the reported Ebola-related deaths currently stands at 4,447.
Aylward said that if the disease is not contained within the next two months it may reach the peak number of 5,000 – 10,000 new cases of infection per week early in December. However the organization hopes that the figures will start going down after that.
Aylward also said that the disease continues to expand geographically and a number of countries located near the current Ebola hotbeds including Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Mali are at risk of being hit by the virus.
The current Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea in February and soon spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
