Ebola crisis: Virus spreading too fast, says WHO

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The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is spreading faster than efforts to control it, World Health Organisation head Margaret Chan has said.  She told a summit of regional leaders that failure to contain it could be “catastrophic” in terms of lives lost.  But she said the virus, which has claimed 729 lives in four West African countries since February, could be stopped if well managed. Ebola kills up to 90 per cent of those infected.

It spreads by contact with infected blood, bodily fluids, organs – or contaminated environments.