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Ebola 'pretty much contained' in Senegal and Nigeria

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Ebola danger in West Africa from Shutterstock
Ebola danger in West Africa from Shutterstock

Two of the five countries affected by the world's worst-ever Ebola outbreak are managing to halt the spread of the disease, the World Health Organisation said on Monday, although the overall death toll has risen to 2 811 out of 5 864 cases.

No further cases

"On the whole, the outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria are pretty much contained," said an update from the WHO's regional director in Africa.

Only one case has been reported in Senegal and all contacts with the patient have now completed a 21-day follow-up, the incubation period of the disease, with no further cases of the virus found, a second WHO statement said.

Read: Ebola 'vaccine' goes viral in Nigeria

In Nigeria, the number of cases has been cut from 21 to 20 after a suspected case was ruled out and 696 contacts have completed the 21-day follow-up. Three were still being monitored in Lagos and 175 in Port Harcourt, the WHO said.

In the three worst-hit countries – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – the disease continued to spread, with a first confirmed case in the Guinean district of Kindia, and a rising death toll in all three.

More than half of all the deaths have occurred in Liberia, where 1 578 have died. Another 632 have died in Guinea and 593 in Sierra Leone.

Unexplained figure

Ebola statistics are based on multiple sources of information and the number of cases – divided between suspected, probable and confirmed cases – can be revised.

One unexplained figure in the latest data was for the number of health workers who have died in Sierra Leone. At 61 deaths as of Sept 19, it was almost double the 31 recorded in the WHO's previous update, at the end of Sept 14.

Read: What Ebola workers go through to stay safe

A WHO spokeswoman said she could not immediately explain the apparent leap in the number of dead Sierra Leone health workers.

A separate Ebola outbreak has killed 41 people in Democratic Republic of Congo, where 68 cases were reported as at Sept 18.

Read more:

Ebola health workers face 'hellish conditions'
Ebola can jump from animals to people in Africa
SA health workers urged to be on the lookout for Ebola symptoms

Image: Ebola danger in West Africa from Shutterstock

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