U.N. says it could take nearly $1 billion to fight Ebola

The world’s worst outbreak of Ebola is growing exponentially and could take nearly $1 billion to bring under control, officials with the World Health Organization warned Tuesday.

The figure is double what the organization estimated last month when it outlined a strategy to respond to the epidemic.

“Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, this health crisis we’re facing is unparalleled in modern times,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, the WHO’s assistant director-general for emergency operations, told reporters in Geneva. “We don’t know where the numbers are going on this.”

As of Saturday, 4,985 Ebola cases had been reported in West Africa, although many had not yet been confirmed through laboratory testing, the WHO said in a report released Tuesday. At least 2,461 of those believed infected have died.

The number of Ebola cases could rise to 20,000 in the coming months, the WHO has said.

Most of the current cases are in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the outbreak was first reported in March. Nigeria has identified 21 cases and eight deaths. Senegal has confirmed one case, but no deaths as yet.

United Nations officials have been urging world leaders to step up the response to the crisis, which has overwhelmed local healthcare structures and aid agencies. There is no cure or vaccine for the hemorrhagic fever, which is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of its victims.

President Obama is expected to announce a significant ramping-up of U.S. assistance -- including the deployment of about 3,000 military personnel to West Africa -- when he visits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon. The military will help build 17 new Ebola treatment units and train 500 healthcare providers per week, senior administration officials said.

“Generous contributions are being announced each day -- but we have a lot of catching up to do to provide the health services, food, water, sanitation and supplies that are needed,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York on Tuesday. “Every day we delay, the cost and the suffering will grow exponentially.”

He reiterated concerns that travel restrictions imposed by a number of countries and transportation companies were slowing down the response. “We need isolation of people affected by Ebola -- not of nations struggling to cope with it,” he said.

The U.N. Security Council plans to hold an emergency session on the outbreak Thursday. Next week, the secretary-general is convening a high-level meeting alongside the General Assembly in New York to discuss the needs of affected countries.

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