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Ebola Death Toll Reaches 961 People - WHO

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The number of deaths caused by Ebola virus reached 961 people on August 6, Reuters reported Friday citing the World Health Organization.

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - The number of deaths caused by Ebola virus reached 961 people on August 6, Reuters reported Friday citing the World Health Organization.

The death toll grew by 29 on Monday and Tuesday, while the number of the infected humans rose by 68 to 1,779, WHO said.

Nigeria, the last country to be affected, claimed four new cases, and one death. The virus also killed four people in Guinea, where the outbreak originated, 12 in Sierra Leone and 12 in Liberia, Reuters writes.

Earlier in the day, WHO published a report acknowledging that the deadly Ebola virus outbreak is an emergency situation of international importance but downplayed the need to restrict or limit international travel.

There is no licensed treatment or vaccine for the Ebola virus, which has a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. Medical workers use rehydration fluid and antibiotics to fight infections. Some groups have called for new drugs to be rolled out in Africa after two US aid workers infected with the virus responded positively to an experimental treatment known as Zmapp.

This week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) modified its clinical hold status on Canadian Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s experimental Ebola treatment to enable its potential use in humans infected with the virus. However, the drug needs to be tested on volunteers first. Other healthcare specialists and research centers, including the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), say Ebola treatments should not be used on humans and that the drugs are unsafe.

More than 930 people have died in the worst Ebola outbreak in history and the first to occur in West Africa. It began in southern Guinea in February and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Several cases have also been reported in Nigeria.

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