14 DAY TRIAL // It's been a while since we last talked about it, but the Ebola epidemic that began in West Africa back in December 2013 is far from over. On the contrary, it appears that the deadly virus is claiming ever more victims.
In a nutshell, a recent report shared with the public by the World Health Organization says that, as of December 31, 2014, the Ebola virus had come to infect well over 20,000 people and kill about 8,000 of them.
Despite the fact that the first Ebola cases documented in December 2013 occurred in Guinea, it appears that Sierra Leone is the country that has until now been hit the hardest by this epidemic.
Thus, Sierra Leone has until now reported some 9,700 cases of infection and almost 3,000 deaths. By comparison, Liberia and Guinea have so far reported some 8,000 and 2,750 infections, and 3,400 and 1,800 deaths, respectively.
What's interesting is that, even as early as August 2014, the World Health Organization labeled the ongoing epidemic in West Africa the largest ever documented anywhere in the world.
Now that the virus has claimed thousands more victims, there is no doubt that specialists were right to worry and alert the entire world when the first Ebola cases emerged in this corner of the world.
As reported on several occasions, people can contract the Ebola virus by coming into contact with the bodily fluids of a person who has already developed the disease.
Once inside the body, the virus begins to multiply and causes symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, chest and stomach pains, weight loss and internal bleeding.