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Ebola toll exceeds 11,260 in West Africa: WHO

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IANS Geneva

The number of people killed by the Ebola virus in west Africa has reached 11,261, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

A total of 27,643 cases of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) have been reported since the outbreak of the disease.

The maximum number of Ebola-related deaths has been registered in Liberia (4,806 deaths and 10,666 total cases) in the country while the average death rate is 50 percent.

Liberia is followed by Sierra Leone (3,947 deaths) and Guinea (2,506 deaths) respectively.

Separate cases have also been registered in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, Britain and the United States.

 

The EVD is a severe illness in humans, often fatal. The virus is passed on to people from wild animals and can be transmitted from humans to humans.

Early supportive care, which includes rehydration and symptomatic treatment, improves the survival rate.

There are no licensed Ebola vaccines yet but two candidates are being evaluated.

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First Published: Jul 17 2015 | 3:26 PM IST

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