Ebola hit countries to lose $809 million by 2015: World Bank

Accra: By the end of next year, the three core Ebola hit countries in West Africa -- Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea -- will lose about $809 million in their economies, the World Bank predicted.

This projected loss will be the medium-term impact of the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) on these countries, Xinhua reported.

A statement issued from the World Bank's Ghana office responsible for both Sierra Leone and Liberia said the bank "finds that if the virus continues to surge in the three worst-affected countries -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, its economic impact could grow eight-fold, dealing a potentially catastrophic blow to the already fragile states".

For Guinea, it said the short-term impact of the disease would be a loss of $130 million or 2.2 percent of the country's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014.

The medium term with low Ebola incidence will result in a loss of $43 million or 1.0 percent of GDP in 2015, while a high Ebola incidence will cost the country $142 million or 2.3 percent of GDP in 2015.

The analysis found out that the disease outbreak would affect economic output variously in the three core countries.