Ebola cases top 7,000 in West Africa: UN

UNITED NATIONS - The UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that more than 7,000 people have been diagnosed with infection of the Ebola virus in West Africa, a UN spokesperson said here Thursday.

The number of Ebola cases has totaled 7,178, with 3,338 reported deaths based on the information provided by the health ministries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a daily news briefing, quoting statistics given by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"The upward epidemic trend continues in Sierra Leone and most probably also in Liberia. By contrast, the situation in Guinea appears to be more stable," he said, adding that though it must be emphasized that in the context of an Ebola outbreak, a stable pattern of transmission is still of a very grave concern and could change quickly.

Ebola, a highly contagious and fatal virus transmitted through close contact with the infected, has spread rapidly across West Africa since early cases were detected in March, leaving thousands sick and dead in its wake and sowing panic among local communities.

The WHO noted that 375 health care workers are known to have developed Ebola (67 in Guinea, 184 in Liberia, 11 in Nigeria, and 113 in Sierra Leone), and 211 of them have died as a result.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States on Tuesday announced the first case of Ebola has been confirmed in the country. The Ebola patient was identified as Thomas Eric Duncan, who traveled from Liberia to Dallas, Texas, to visit relatives there last month but fell ill on Sept. 24. He was later confirmed to have been infected with Ebola at a Dallas hospital and was listed in serious but stable condition.