Public health advocates stage an Ebola awareness and prevention event on August 18 in Monrovia, Liberia. The Liberian government and international groups are trying to convince residents of the danger and are urging people to wash their hands to help prevent the spread of the epidemic, which is spread by bodily fluids.(Photo: John Moore Getty Images)



The death toll from Ebola's devastation in West Africa has topped 1,200, even as the World Health Organization said Tuesday it sees some encouraging signs in the fight to contain the virus.


Between Thursday and Saturday, WHO recorded another 113 cases and an additional 84 deaths, bringing the totals since the outbreak began to 2,240 cases, and 1,229 deaths, a fatality rate of 55%. Since emerging in December, the outbreak has been concentrated in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, and more recently Nigeria.


The WHO, however, said in a release Tuesday the situation in Lagos, Nigeria, "looks reassuring." That's where the first imported case arrived in July with the death of an American traveler, In addition to the traveler, Nigeria has had about a dozen cases and three other deaths, all tied to health care workers or others who had contact with the American, Patrick Sawyer.


WHO cited the good news that one of those who contracted the infection from Sawyer has now fully recovered, "It counters the widespread perception that infection with the Ebola virus is invariably a death sentence," the WHO statement said.


Authorities have had difficulty persuading the sick to seek treatment, relatives have sometimes taken their loved ones away from health centers and mobs have occasionally attacked health workers.


But the WHO said Tuesday that it is seeing some encouraging signs in Guinea, where people from villages that had previously rejected outside help were beginning to seek medical care. The statement said the situation is "less alarming" in Guinea than it is in Liberia and Sierra Leone.


Although the outbreak began in Guinea, Liberia now has recorded the highest number of deaths and Sierra Leone the highest number of cases.


"The outbreak is not under control," the statement said, despite some progress. "As recent experience shows, progress is fragile, with a real risk that the outbreak could experience another flare-up."


In an effort to stem the spread of Ebola, officials have imposed quarantines and travel restrictions for the sick and those in contact with them, sometimes shutting off whole villages and counties.


Those restrictions are limiting access to food and other basic necessities, said the WHO. The U.N. World Food Program has said that it is preparing to deliver food to 1 million people over the next three months.


"I think now there is a high vigilance in all countries," Fadela Chaib, a WHO spokeswoman told reporters in Geneva. "I can't remember the last time we fed 1 million people in a quarantine situation."


Contributing: Associated Press


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