World Health Organisation declares Africa's Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency and says affected countries 'cannot manage an outbreak of this size'

Africa's Ebola outbreak is spreading beyond the control of top medics and poses a serious threat to the rest of the globe, the World Health Organisation has declared.

Four west African nations have recorded almost 1,800 cases as bodies were left in the streets and at least 961 people have died - including 80 medics.

Today the World Health Organisation's director-general declared the outbreak is moving 'faster than we can control it' as it emerged another 29 people have died in just two days.

Toll: The World Health Organisation has declared a public health emergency over the spread of Ebola in west Africa. Pictured: Liberian Muslims pray over the bodies of two victims of the disease in a photo released today

Deaths: As of Monday the death toll including in Liberia (pictured) was 932. It is thought to have risen since then

Crisis: Liberia (pictured) has declared a 90-day state of emergency and the army has set up road blocks

In the two days between Monday and Wednesday this week there were another 68 cases and 29 deaths, the vast majority in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organisation announced today.

Of the 1,779 cases, 1,134 have been confirmed in a laboratory while 452 are 'probable' and 193 are 'suspected'.

Of the 961 deaths, 622 have been confirmed, 286 are probable and 53 are suspected.

After two days of conferences the organisation has issued a warning similar to those which were produced in the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for a polio outbreak in May.

Speaking from the WHO's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, director-general Margaret Chan said: 'The outbreak is moving faster than we can control it.

'The declaration ... will galvanise the attention of leaders of all countries at the top level. It cannot be done by the ministries of health alone.' 

Ebola outbreak is an international public health emergency

Protective clothing: Nurses prepare to remove an Ebola victim's body near the Liberian capital Monrovia

Every head of state must declare an immediate state of emergency, the WHO said, something which has already happened in Liberia with roadblocks stopping traders from moving around the country

She said the announcement is 'a clear call for international solidarity', although she acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.

She added: 'Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own.

'I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.'

Britain increased its aid pledge to the crisis from £2million to £5million yesterday as the WHO pleaded with western countries to provide immediate help.

It also called on the affected nations - Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria - to introduce a clampdown to halt the disease in its tracks.

Every head of state must declare an immediate state of emergency, the WHO said, something which has already happened in Liberia with roadblocks stopping traders from moving around the country. 

Toll: An updated death toll released today by the World Health Organisation, accurate as of Wednesday

Clampdown: The WHO said all airports in the affected nations should introduce health screenings while other countries should have treatment facilities if needed. Pictured is the jet used to fly home two U.S. aid workers

Protection: The Gulf Stream III, complete with an isolation tent, was used to transport Ebola victims Dr Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol. They were later treated with experimental drugs produced in California

No patients should leave the country until at least 21 days after becoming infected unless they are being removed as part of a medical evacuation under strict conditions. 

And all airports in the affected nations should introduce health screenings to stop anyone with Ebola-like symptoms from leaving.

There is no cure for the disease, which is transmitted by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids of infected people and emerged in 1976.

Some victims bleed from the mouth, eyes and ears, meaning the illness can be passed on during ritual burials. 

Medics are in urgent need of better contamination supplies as it emerged 145 of those infected by the weekend were healthcare workers - 80 of whom died.  

Deadly: Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with blood and bodily fluids but so far remains in Africa

International emergency: The World Health Organisation says Ebola is spreading faster than officials can conrol it. Pictured is a billboard about the virus in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where troops are on the streets

HOW THE VIRUS SPREADS 

Ebola emerged in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which gave the disease its name.

There are several strains which vary in how dangerous they are to humans, but death rates have reached as high as 90 per cent.

In the current outbreak that is just over 50 per cent.

It is introduced into humans through direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals including fruit bats, which are eaten as a delicacy.

Other species thought to have passed on the virus have included chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.

The virus then spreads between humans through direct contact with blood, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people. 

Symptoms include fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

People are infectious as long as their blood and bodily fluids contain the virus and the incubation period can range between two and 21 days.

Although the disease has no cure, modern medical treatment and quick isolation help hugely to bring the death toll down.

Source: World Health Organisation 

Yesterday 75-year-old Spanish aid worker Miguel Parajes became the first confirmed case to be taken to Europe for treatment as he was flown into Madrid in an isolation chamber. His condition was described as stable.

Experts were divided over the purpose of the WHO's stark statement today as it did not recommend any trade or travel bans.

'I don't know what the advantage is of declaring an international emergency,' said Dr. David Heymann, who directed WHO's response to the SARS outbreak and is now a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

'This could bring in more foreign aid but we don't know that yet'.

Other experts hoped the declaration would send more health workers to West Africa.

'The situation is very critical and different from what we've seen before,' said Dr Heinz Feldmann, chief of virology at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

'There are so many locations with transmission popping up and we just need more people on the ground.'

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and have recommended against travelling to West Africa. 

Two U.S. aid workers were treated using the ZMapp drug, produced by the tiny California firm Mapp Biopharmaceutical, despite it only only being tested on monkeys.

It consists of a cocktail of proteins produced in bioengineered tobacco plants which target the virus. 

But President Barack Obama has ruled out flying in large quantities of the drug to west Africa because it is too soon too guarantee against serious side effects.

Health officials also warned that there are almost no doses available of the drug. 

Crisis: A woman weeps over the death of a relative from Ebola on the outskirts of the Liberian capital Monrovia

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