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UN tally of Ebola deaths passes 10,000, most in West Africa

In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, a board stating that a homestead is under quarantine, an order which lasts for twenty-one days, due to the Ebola virus in the Kambia district, in Kambia, Sierra Leone. According to the head of the national Ebola response Centre, complacent behavior in Sierra Leone has led to a worrying spike in confirmed Ebola cases over the past week in four districts, Alfred Palo Conteh said Thursday, March 12, 2015. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff) In this photo taken on Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, a board stating that a homestead is under quarantine, an order which lasts for twenty-one days, due to the Ebola virus in the Kambia district, in Kambia, Sierra Leone. According to the head of the national Ebola response Centre, complacent behavior in Sierra Leone has led to a worrying spike in confirmed Ebola cases over the past week in four districts, Alfred Palo Conteh said Thursday, March 12, 2015. (AP Photo/ Michael Duff)

By Associated Press March 12, 2015 1 min read

GENEVA (AP) – The World Health Organization says its tally of Ebola deaths has passed the grim milestone of 10,000, mostly in West Africa.

The U.N. health agency says it’s the biggest-ever Ebola outbreak.

The Geneva-based agency said Thursday that Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone alone had reported 10,004 confirmed, probable and suspected deaths from Ebola since the outbreak began more than a year ago. There have also been eight deaths in Nigeria, six in Mali and one in the United States.

A massive international effort to stamp out the deadly disease has slowed the rate of infections, especially Liberia. But the virus appears stubbornly entrenched in parts of Guinea and Sierra Leone.