Ebola infections set to soar in Liberia: WHO

MONROVIA, AFP – The World Health Organisation warned Monday that Liberia is set to see a huge spike in infections from the Ebola epidemic ravaging west Africa, with thousands of new cases imminent.

The UN agency said the country, worst-hit in the outbreak with almost 1,100 deaths, faced "many thousands" of new infections in the next three weeks.

The deadliest Ebola epidemic the world has ever seen is spreading across west Africa, with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone the countries worst affected.

The death toll has topped 2,000, out of nearly 4,000 people infected.

Liberia already accounts for about half of all cases and deaths, and "the number of new cases is increasing exponentially" , the WHO warned.

The countries bearing the brunt of the epidemic are among the world's poorest, with dilapidated medical infrastructures that have all but buckled under the strain of trying to contain the virus.

Before the outbreak, Liberia had only one doctor to treat every 100,000 patients in a total population of 4.4 million people.

Now that 152 healthcare workers in the country have been infected and 79 have died, the WHO said the ratio had worsened significantly.

"Every infection or death of a doctor or nurse depletes response capacity significantly," it said.

The UN body described how taxis filled with entire families, including members suspected of having Ebola, criss-crossed Monrovia "searching for a treatment bed".

"There are none. As WHO staff in Liberia confirm, no free beds for Ebola treatment exist anywhere in the country."

When Ebola patients are turned away from treatment centres, "they have no choice but to return to their communities and homes, where they inevitably infect others, perpetuating constantly higher flare-ups in the number of cases," it said.

Meanwhile Sierra Leone announced plans to visit every home in the country of six million to track down people with Ebola and remove dead bodies.

Ebola, transmitted through bodily fluids, leads to haemorrhagic fever and – in over half of cases – death.

There is no specific treatment and no licensed vaccine.

Researchers reported in Nature Medicine on Monday however that a vaccine tested on monkeys had provided "complete short-term and partial long-term protection" .

The study endorsed testing the vaccine on humans, with first results due by the end of the year.