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Risk of Ebola spread still high: UN
Head of the UN Ebola response mission in West Africa Tony Banbury has said there is still a `huge risk` that the Ebola virus could spread to other parts of the world.
London: Head of the UN Ebola response mission in West Africa Tony Banbury has said there is still a "huge risk" that the Ebola virus could spread to other parts of the world.
In October, Banbury told the UN Security Council that by Dec 1 "about 70 percent of all those infected by the disease must be under treatment and 70 percent of the victims safely buried if the outbreak is to be successfully arrested", BBC reported Monday.
He said the 70 percent targets were being met in "the vast majority" of areas in the three worst-affected countries - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
"But in some areas", he said, "including Sierra Leone - especially in its capital Freetown and in Port Loko town - we are falling short. And it is in those areas where we really need to focus our assets and our capabilities".
More than 6,000 people have died so far from Ebola, majority in West Africa, and over 16,000 have been infected.
The latest figures show that between 200 and 300 people are still dying every week.
"We adopted a strategy earlier to get this crisis under control which involves treatment centres, safe burials and community mobilisation. That strategy is working," he said.