With no commercially available vaccine and effective treatment yet, the number of Ebola cases has gone from bad to worse.
Latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that the number of people who have been struck by Ebola is now over 10,000 with almost half of these infected patients dying of the hemorrhagic fever.
In its latest situation report released on Saturday, Oct. 25, WHO said that as of Oct. 23, there are now 10,141 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of the highly fatal disease in six Ebola-struck countries namely Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Spain, Sierra Leone and the U.S. and in two countries that were previously hit by the disease: Nigeria and Senegal. Of those infected, 4,922 have died of the disease.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in particular, had the highest numbers of infections and fatalities. Liberia remains the hardest hit of all affected countries with 2,705 deaths followed by Sierra Leone, which already has 1,281 fatalities, and Guinea, which recorded 926 Ebola fatalities. Nigeria has eight deaths and Mali and the U.S. both have one fatality.
U.S. has four confirmed Ebola cases, three of whom were healthcare workers. Nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, who helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the now deceased Liberian national who was the first to be diagnosed of Ebola in the U.S., were infected of the disease but are now Ebola free.
Craig Spencer, a doctor who helped treat Ebola patients in Guinea was diagnosed on Thursday becoming New York City's first case of Ebola virus. Prior to him getting sick, the 33 year old doctor rode public transportations. He is currently in isolation and receiving treatment at the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.
WHO said that of the 450 healthcare workers who were struck by the Ebola virus since the outbreak started, 244 have died of the disease.
"A total of 450 health-care workers (HCWs) are known to have been infected with EVD up to the end of 23 October: 80 in Guinea; 228 in Liberia; 11 in Nigeria; 127 in Sierra Leone; one in Spain; and three in the United States of America. A total of 244 HCWs have died," WHO said [pdf].
Although the United Nations agency has placed the figure of Ebola cases at 10,141, it is believed that the actual number of cases is higher because many families opt to keep their sick relatives at home instead of bringing them to treatment centers that are overcrowded.
