Ebola cases may hit 1.4 million by next year

Nearly 1.4 million people in West Africa could be infected with the deadly Ebola virus by mid-January.

That's according to a worst case scenario outlined by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

In contrast, the World Health Organisation is forecasting ebola infections could reach 20,000 by November.

So far Ebola has caused more than 2,800 deaths in West Africa, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Outbreaks in Senegal and Nigeria were contained.

Previously it was reported around half of those infected died, but officials now say the death rate is even higher at 70%.

The Center for Disease Control also said the epidemic in Liberia and Sierra Leone could be almost ended by mid-January, by aggressively isolating the sick, either in hospitals or at home, and by taking steps to reduce the spread of the disease during burials.

The CDC did not give an estimate of how many Ebola cases overall could be expected under its best-case scenario. But it said the number of new cases per day could be fewer than 300 by mid-January, instead of the thousands feared under the grimmer projections.

- With AP