The Ebola outbreak continues to worsen in West Africa, with almost 9,000 cases and nearly 4,500 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone as of Oct. 15, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
With nearly 4,250 reported cases and more than 2,450 deaths, Liberia accounts for almost half of the known Ebola cases, and more than half of Ebola-related deaths, according to the CDC data.
2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa: Case counts as of Oct. 15
More than 3,250 cases have been reported in Sierra Leone, but with fewer than 1,200 deaths, mortality is lower there than in the other affected countries. With almost 1,500 official cases, Guinea has the fewest Ebola cases of the three nations, but with more than 840 deaths, it has the highest mortality among the afflicted countries.
Nigeria and Senegal also have reported Ebola cases related to the outbreak in West Africa. Nigeria has reported 20 cases and 8 deaths, with the last case reported on Sept. 5, according to the CDC. Senegal has reported one case of Ebola, with no deaths. Both countries have completed the required 21-day follow-up with no additional Ebola cases, the CDC reported.
Spain and the United States have reported locally transmitted Ebola cases, one in Spain and two in the United States. All three cases involve health care workers who attended to Ebola patients.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo reported 70 cases of Ebola as of Oct. 5 in an isolated area of the country, the seventh outbreak in the Congo since the discovery of Ebola there in 1976. That outbreak is considered to be separate from the one in West Africa, according to the CDC, and seems to be contained, with no new cases reported since Sept. 24.