Fifty new Ebola cases, 25 deaths in West Africa – WHO

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Fifty new cases of Ebola and 25 deaths have been reported in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea since July 3, as the deadly virus spreads in families, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Guinea’s ministry reported two deaths since July 3, but no new cases in the past week, the WHO said, calling the situation in the affected region of West Africa a “mixed picture”. WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib, speaking to a Geneva news briefing earlier on Tuesday, said: “This means that the two main modes of transmission are home care, people who care for their relative at home, and during funerals, are still ongoing.” “If we don’t stop the transmission in the several hotspots in the three countries we will not be able to say that we control the outbreak,” she said. West African countries and international health organizations adopted a fresh strategy last Thursday to fight the world’s deadliest Ebola epidemic to date.