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| A banner encouraging people suffering from Ebola to go immediately to a health center for treatment is seen on a sidewalk in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Duff) |
The World Health Organization on Friday declared the Ebola outbreak in
West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an
extraordinary response to stop its spread, according to AP/Agency sources.
While the Ebola virus outbreak has now reached four countries, Liberia
and Sierra Leone account for more than 60 percent of the deaths, according to
the World Health Organization. The outbreak that emerged in March has claimed
at least 932 lives.
It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has
a death rate of about 50 percent and has so far killed at least 961 people. WHO
declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio
in May.
The
WHO chief, Dr. Margaret Chan, said the announcement is "a clear call for
international solidarity" although she acknowledged that many countries
would probably not have any Ebola cases.
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