Expert warns Ebola epidemic in West Africa could be a history altering plauge

As the death toll in West africa continues to rise, the director general for the World Health Organization, Margret Chan told reporters on Friday that figures citing new cases of the Ebola infection are possibly an underestimate.

“In the three hardest hit countries, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the number of new patients is moving far faster than the capacity to manage them. We need to surge at least three to four times to catch up with the outbreaks,” Chan said.

Chan called for a more urgent response and support from the international community and said that the countries suffering the worst need more doctors, nurses, medical supplies and aid.

So far, almost half of the 301 health-care workers in West Africa have been infected with Ebola while treating patients have died. Chan also welcomed Cuba’s level of commitment in combating the virus and helping those afflicted by sending 165 health-care workers to help fight the outbreak but she also stated that they need at least 500 doctors.

Michael Osterholm the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota warned that “the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has the potential to alter history as much as any plague has ever done.”