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UN: W. African Ebola Outbreak May Last Several Months


Health workers carry the body of an Ebola virus victim in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 25, 2014.
Health workers carry the body of an Ebola virus victim in Kenema, Sierra Leone, June 25, 2014.

A top U.N. health official says West Africa's Ebola outbreak could last several more months.

But Keiji Fukuda told the French News Agency AFP Thursday it is impossible to make a clear prediction on how much farther the outbreak could spread.

Fukuda spoke in Ghana Thursday at the end of a two-day emergency meeting of African health ministers and other experts. The outbreak has already killed 467 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The ministers made a number of proposals. They include mobilizing community, religious, and political leaders to educate people about the disease and committing more financial resources.

The ministers call Ebola a serious threat to all countries in the region and beyond.

Ebola is named for the river in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the first victim was found in 1976.

Ebola can lead to organ failure and uncontrollable bleeding. There is no known effective treatment.

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