WHO: Thousands more needed to fight Ebola

 

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Published 15.09

  

A health worker at a facility for Ebola patients in the province of North Kivu. The picture was taken on August 31. Photo: Sebastien Kitsa Musayi/AP/TT

An additional 5,000 health workers are needed to deal with the Ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

The ongoing Ebola outbreak was confirmed in mid-May this year and has spread to six provinces in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country.

3,175 people have been confirmed dead and over 6,600 have been infected, the WHO says, citing the country's official statistics.

Luca Fontana at the WHO says it is a race against time to find health workers who can work in the affected areas.

- Right now we have almost 4,000 health workers working in the treatment centers. That means we need 5,000 more, he says.