UN warns Ebola epidemic ‘not yet contained’

Addis Ababa, January 29

The Ebola epidemic is decreasing, but is still present in a third of the areas of the three worst-affected west African nations, UN Ebola coordinator David Nabarro warned today.

“The number of cases is decreasing week by week and getting to zero in many places... but we still see occasional flare-ups and we still see some surprises with new cases out of our contact lists,” Nabarro said.

“That means that the epidemic is not contained yet,” he said. Nabarro was speaking at the African Union headquarters, as leaders gather a day ahead of a summit meeting where Ebola is a key issue for discussion.

The worst outbreak of the virus in history has seen nearly 9,000 deaths in a year — almost all in the three west African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — and sparked a major health scare worldwide.

The three nations have been devastated by the outbreak, which began in December 2013, but all have seen recent signs that the virus is on the wane, with the number of new cases dropping weekly. — AFP