Disease ‘poses threat to all humanity’

Ebola represents a threat to all humanity and an outbreak of the virus in five West African countries will likely spread to more, American officials warned.

“This is not an African disease. This is a virus that is a threat to all humanity,” said Gayle Smith, special assistant to US president Barack Obama and senior director at the National Security Council.

More than half of the 3,000 people sickened have died in the current ebola outbreak, which has hit Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal in West Africa.