Ebola deaths in West Africa now 3,083

The World Health Organisation says death toll from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) ravaging West African countries has reached an all-time-high of 3,083.

In WHO’s latest report on Ebola, Liberia remains the most hit country, with a death toll of 1,830 out of 3,458 cases reported.

Guinea comes next, with 648 deaths in 1,074 cases reported by its ministry of health.

In the “widespread and intense” category, as classified by WHO, Sierra Leone is the least devastated, with 605 deaths in 2,021 cases.

Nigeria and Senegal, categorised as “localized”, have both recorded 21 cases, with a total of 8 deaths, all coming from Africa’s most populous Nation.

Despite the influx of foreign aid, WHO continues to complain of bed shortage in Liberia. At least 1,550 beds are still needed, it says.

Nigeria’s minister of health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said earlier that the country was free of Ebola; and WHO has now endorseed Chukwu’s remarks, revealing that 847 of the 872 contacts have been freed while about 25 people are still under watch.

Ebola broke out for the first time in 1976 in Yambuku, a small town in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC).