Not the best news to read first thing in the morning:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the number of Ebola cases could rise to 20,000 as doctors in Liberia say the deadly virus is now spreading so rapidly they can no longer deal with the crisis.
The UN health agency said the outbreak is accelerating in west Africa, where the death toll has now reached 1,552, and it believes the numbers who have been hit by Ebola could be two to four times higher than the current 3,069 cases currently reported.
“[It] is a scale that I think has not ever been anticipated in terms of an Ebola outbreak,” said Bruce Aylward, assistant director general of WHO.
He said the increase came from cities including the Liberian capital Monrovia, where a slum was quarantined last week, leading to food shortages and civil unrest.
My guess is that the death toll is under reported. Those are confirmed deaths. How many have died in places unknown after fleeing their own city or village? If this breaks outside of West Africa to the more highly developed countries, I predict panic. Imagine if this were happening in the US right now, where we have as many guns as people?