West African health officials will meet in Ghana this week to discuss ways of controlling the Ebola outbreak that has claimed more than 450 lives.
The World Health Organization says ministers of health and directors of disease prevention from 11 countries will hold a two-day meeting beginning Wednesday in Accra.
The WHO says new cases of Ebola continue to be reported in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It says the death toll from confirmed, probable and suspected cases of the virus stands at 467, the majority of them in Guinea.
The U.N. agency said the virus is being transmitted mainly in rural communities, cross-border areas and densely populated parts of the Guinean and Liberian capitals.
Authorities have warned people to avoid direct contact with those infected by the virus, whether alive or dead. The WHO said "traditional beliefs" and continued commercial and social activities are contributing to continued transmission of the virus.
The outbreak, the first of its kind in West Africa, began early this year in southeastern Guinea.
