WHO: Ebola targets being reached

The World Health Organisation says Liberia and Guinea have met the December 1 target for isolating 70% of people infected with Ebola and safely burying 70% of those who die.

WHO’s Dr Bruce Aylward also says Sierra Leone probably met the targets in the west of the country and he expects levels nationwide to improve “in the coming weeks”.

Aylward told reporters in Geneva that WHO’s ambitious plan to stop the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa has shown it possible to quickly reduce the “yawning gap” between disease levels and the capacity to respond.

But he says that “doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to get to zero” cases and eliminate unsafe burials without more cooperation among responders.