Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

The Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, the West African country with the most patients, may recede in the next few weeks as efforts to prevent its spread take effect, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

“Within the next few weeks we should see a significant decrease in cases in the western district and Freetown,” the capital of Sierra Leone, as long as the response to Ebola remains intense, CDC Director Tom Frieden said on a conference call with reporters today.

Frieden is back from visiting Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where the Ebola outbreak that has killed 7,518 people is centered. Sierra Leone surpassed Liberia earlier this month as the country with the highest number of Ebola cases and remains at the top.

“I’m hopeful about stopping the epidemic, but I remain realistic that this is going to be a long, hard fight,” Frieden said.

There were 8,939 Ebola cases in Sierra Leone and 2,571 in Guinea as of Dec. 20, according to the World Health Organization. Liberia had 7,830 as of Dec. 18, the group said.

“As of today, Liberia has the upper hand against the virus,” Frieden said. The outbreak in that country has slowed because of improvements to treatment centers, safe burials and community education efforts, according to a CDC statement.

The U.S. Congress approved $5.4 billion of President Barack Obama’s $6.2 billion request to fight Ebola, with $1.2 billion going to the CDC for international response to the outbreak. Frieden said they’ll be able to establish country offices and hire more workers. The agency has 170 employees in West Africa.