Ebola: Death Toll Rises To 2,296 WHO.

SOURCE:Leadership 

The death toll from the worst Ebola outbreak in history has risen to no fewer than 2,296 and is likely to be higher than that, the World Health Organisation(WHO) said yesterday.

The WHO said it had recorded 4,293 cases in five West African countries as of Sept. 6, a day after its previous update. But it still did not have new figures for Liberia, the worst-affected country, suggesting the true toll is already much higher.

The WHO has said it expects thousands of new cases in Liberia in the next three weeks.

As well as struggling to contain the disease, the organisation is having difficulty compiling data on the number of cases, said Sylvie Briand, the director of WHOs department of pandemic and epidemic diseases.

We know that the numbers are under-estimated. We are currently working to estimate the under-estimation, Briand told a news briefing in Geneva.

Meanwhile, Nigerian woman resident in Italy was hospitalised yesterday with symptoms that have led doctors to fear she may be the countrys first case of someone contracting the Ebola virus.

The outbreak began last December and has been gathering pace for months, but about 60 percent of Liberias cases and deaths occurred within the last three weeks, the data showed.