Ebola is still going strong.
Ebola Cases Up Dramatically in Last 4 Weeks, CDC Reports
From: Medscape Medical News
By: Larry Hand
December 16, 2014
Reported Ebola cases continue to climb dramatically in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, according to an update published online December 16 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Reported cases totaled 4281 for the 4-week period between November 9 and December 6 compared with 2705 for the 3-week period between October 19 and November 8. The cases occurred in widely distributed geographic districts across all three countries.
Two prefectures in Guinea, six counties in Liberia, and six districts in Sierra Leone reported the highest cumulative incidence rates, with some as high as more than 300 cases per 100,000 populations.
Total case counts included suspected, probable, and confirmed cases. However, reporting delays vary by country, so the proportion of reported to actual cases is unknown.
A total of 17,908 Ebola cases had been reported as of December 7 from the three West African countries, according to a December 10 update from the World Health Organization. Peaks in the number of new cases occurred in:
• Liberia, with 509 cases during the week of September 5 to 11;
• Sierra Leone, with 748 cases during the week of November 9 to 15; and
• Guinea, with 292 cases during the week of October 5 to 11.
A total of 6373 Ebola-related deaths had been reported as of December 7, according to the World Health Organization. Investigators are looking into possible transmission in Mali, but transmission was interrupted successfully in Nigeria.