WHO: The Numbers Vastly Underestimate The Magnitude of The Outbreak

WHO Ebola News 14 August 2014:

The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa continues to escalate, with 1975 cases and 1069 deaths reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

No new cases have been detected in Nigeria following the importation of a case in an air traveller last month

Elsewhere, the outbreak is expected to continue for some time. WHO’s operational response plan extends over the next several months. Staff at the outbreak sites see evidence that the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak.

the numbers of reported cases and deaths vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak So it's official now, up on the WHO website: who.int...

The latest update says 1975 cases and 1069 deaths. How bad are the real numbers? Double than reported? Five times? More?

The WHO cannot be trusted anymore.

originally posted by: VoidHawk
The WHO cannot be trusted anymore.

I don't think we can trust the CDC either.

a reply to: negue

It's only a matter of time before we see these numbers in the United States.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

s&f

originally posted by: VoidHawk
The WHO cannot be trusted anymore.

To be fair, they're pretty much admitting they can't be trusted or even relied on to contain this, as they've admitted they don't have some big headquarters in Geneva with a bunch of equipment and docs at the ready, and they're basically bankrupt. They're a totally volunteer organization just trying their best to gather info and organize volunteer resources. They don't have any "control" over anything anywhere, they're just trying to help out whenever and however they can. So they're basically begging to not be trusted, and to have citizens demand of their own governments that actual money and resources go towards containing and fighting this. They just want to help.

(But S&F for the thread, it's important info when the WHO says "yeah, dude, even we have no clue what to do" lol)

From what I read, Albania arrested 40 illegal immigrants and five of them exhibit symptoms of Ebola. I'm glad they're taking precautions even if they may be futile. S & F it's a very important issue and a concern.

And yet I keep reading how all of this will resolve itself and not likely affect the first world in the least.

Barely a peep from the media.

Hope the 'nothing to worry about' crowd is right, because the WHO just admitted things are much worse than even they had initially led us to believe.

a reply to: negue

It was obvious from the getgo the numbers were under-reported - like when Sierra Leone denied having any cases at all back in February-March, and Mali is still in full denial. ....Most of these areas do not have a hospital - so who's running the tests and keeping the tally? [Hint: No one.]

More:

Ebola outbreak 'vastly underestimated,' WHO says

…..Arthur Caplan, director of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, said the choice of who to treat would have to balance helping the largest number of people with learning the most from the treatments.

He said the question is not "whose life do we save?" but "who gets the chance to be experimented on?"

For that reason, recipients need to be good experimental subjects — people who have recently contracted the disease and are more likely to respond to treatment or perhaps younger patients, he said. In order to study the long-term effects, doctors will likely prefer people who can be observed for months, which might eliminate those living in remote places, he added.

They're preparing us for something way worse than these "vastly underestimated" numbers.

They changed the layout of the Ebola page on their site: who.int...

This article who.int... from the WHO site bluntly states:

However, the outbreak is not under control. As recent experience shows, progress is fragile, with a real risk that the outbreak could experience another flare-up. A case in a previously unaffected area was reported last week, indicating continuing spread to new areas.

So this is the truth, this Ebola outbreak is not under control. WHO says so...

Hey look! Someone just dumped another bucket of water over their head!!!! ;-)

a reply to: Lexman55

Yep, I'm surprised that didn't cure all diseases already.

Just to be clear - the WHO can only report what nations report to them, and only tests the samples they are sent by a nation. Which means they are relying on the nations to do all the work and do it honestly without being influenced by political, economic or other factors. ....Okay. Sure. Of course the numbers will be accurate.