UN warns only 60 days to beat Ebola

The UN says the Ebola outbreak must be controlled within 60 days or else the world faces an “unprecedented” situation for which there is no plan. The United Nations made the stark warning as it warned that the disease “is running faster than us and it is winning the race”.

“The WHO advises within 60 days we must ensure 70% of infected people are in a care facility and 70% of burials are done without causing further infection,” said Anthony Banbury, the UN’s deputy Ebola coordinator.

But Mr Banbury told the UN Security Council the 70% target was becoming harder to meet as new infections stack up. He urged: “We either stop Ebola now or we face an entirely unprecedented situation for which we do not have a plan.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier said there could be 10,000 new cases of Ebola per week within two months. “It could be higher, it could be lower, but somewhere in that ball park.”

Some 95% of the cases are occurring in the same limited number of districts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea which were affected a month ago, he said.

[Sky News]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.