Death toll from Ebola outbreak rises to 729: WHO

July 2014 – AFRICA - The death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has risen to 729, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, after 57 deaths were reported between July 24 and 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The WHO also said Nigerian authorities had so far identified 59 people who had come into contact with a U.S. citizen who died in Lagos last week after traveling from Liberia, via Togo and Ghana. The virus is now out of control and is in danger of spreading beyond Africa.

It said 122 new cases were detected over those four days, taking the total number of confirmed and likely infected cases from the outbreak so far to 1,323. WHO said the trend in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone “remains precarious with ongoing…transmission of infection.” Guinea is suffering the worst from the disease, which causes often fatal bleeding and has no vaccine. The country’s authorities reported 20 more deaths apparently from Ebola in the last four days of last week, taking its national fatality figure to 339. Liberia saw 27 more deaths, for a total national death toll of 156. Sierra Leone reported nine more deaths for a total 233 dead. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, reported its first death from Ebola in that period. WHO said the medical sample taken from the patient who died in Nigeria shortly after arriving by air had still not been analyzed by its regional lab because courier companies were refusing to transport it. The UN agency added that it “does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions” be applied to Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, or Sierra Leone at this time. -HP Yahoo