WHO Reports Ebola Death Toll Rise to 467 in West Africa

Giving the latest update on the death toll from the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, the World Health Organization said 467 people have till now died of infection from the Ebola virus.

Giving the latest update on the disease which has hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the WHO said there have now been 759 confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola in the region.

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Ebola is caused by a virus via direct contact with body fluids or infected blood. Scientists have identified five types of Ebola or Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus.

The figures were issued on the eve of a conference on the crisis to be held in Ghana.

WHO has described the epidemic as one of the most challenging since the virus was first identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

That outbreak, until now the deadliest, killed 280 people, according to WHO figures.

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Ebola is a tropical virus that can fell its victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea - in some cases shutting down organs and causing unstoppable bleeding.

No medicine or vaccine exists for Ebola, which is named after a small river in the DRC.

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Warnings of spread of Ebola beyond hard-hit Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to neighbouring nations has been issued by WHO, adding that travel bans were not the answer.

Aid organisations have said the current outbreak has been especially challenging since people in many affected areas have been reluctant to cooperate with aid workers.

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Source-AFP