Thousands of new cases of Ebola are expected in
the coming weeks as the disease spreads "exponentially" through
Liberia, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned.
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More than 2,000 people have been killed in West Africa by Ebola since
the outbreak began this year, including 79 health workers.
The UN's health agency has now warned that the response to the crisis is
"not having an adequate impact" and efforts to contain the virus must
be stepped up "three-to-four fold".
It added that a shortage of beds for infected patients in Liberia'sMontserrado county and the use of public transport by Ebola sufferers turned
away from hospital would likely cause a surge in transmission rates.
"Transmission of the Ebola virus in Liberia is already intense and
the number of new cases is increasing exponentially," WHO said in a
statement.
"In Monrovia, taxis filled with entire families, of whom some
members are thought to be infected with the Ebola virus, crisscross the city,
searching for a treatment bed. There are none.
"As WHO staff in Liberia confirm, no free beds for Ebola treatment
exist anywhere in the country.
"When patients are turned away, they have no choice but to return
to their communities and homes, where they inevitably infect others."
The virus is transmitted through contact with infected blood or bodilyfluids, or through contact with areas where contaminated bodily fluids have
recently been left.
The international response to the epidemic has been intensified in recent
weeks, with more aid being pledged to affected countries and the imposition of
stricter travel restrictions.
The British military has pledged to build a 50-bed centre in Sierra
Leone and the US announced the construction of a 25-bed field hospital inLiberia at a cost of €24m.
Liberia has been the worst affected with 1,000 deaths from the virus so
far, while hundreds have also died in Guinea and Sierra Leone. The outbreak has
a mortality rate of 55pc.
Meanwhile, the fourth American aid worker ill with the Ebola virus
arrived yesterday morning to a mostly calm scene at a US hospital, where two
others have been successfully treated.
The patient walked from the ambulance to the hospital.
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