Ebola virus claims more than 6000 lives

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a total of 6 055 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the beginning of the outbreak (March 2014), this is up from 5 987 a few days earlier.

More than 6 000 people have died from the Ebola virus.

The death toll elsewhere remains the same — six in Mali, one in the United States, and eight in Nigeria, which was declared Ebola-free in October.

In Sierra Leone, where an increase in cases in the west of the country is causing concern, 1 583 deaths out of 7 312 suspected cases were reported as of November 30.

The WHO published figures for Sierra Leone up to November 28, showing 1 530 deaths and 7 109 cases.

In Guinea, where the outbreak started in December last year, 1 327 fatalities out of 2 164 cases were reported as of November 30.

In Liberia, which had been the worst affected, 3 145 people had died out of a total of 7 635 cases as of November 28.

To date, South Africa’s Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi has reiterated that the country has no cases of Ebola.

Motsoaledi says the Health Department has put in place serious measures to prevent Ebola from developing in South Africa.

He says 11 hospitals in total have been selected across the country to deal with the Ebola virus.

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