This story is free to read.

Panel questions why WHO response slow to Ebola

FILE-In this Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 file photo, health workers carry the body of a old man from his house, with the Ebola virus being the suspected cause of death, in the Siah Town area on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia is now free of Ebola after going 42 days _ twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease _ without any new cases, the World Health Organization announced on Saturday, May 9, 2015. (AP Photo/ Abbas Dulleh, File) FILE-In this Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 file photo, health workers carry the body of a old man from his house, with the Ebola virus being the suspected cause of death, in the Siah Town area on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia is now free of Ebola after going 42 days _ twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease _ without any new cases, the World Health Organization announced on Saturday, May 9, 2015. (AP Photo/ Abbas Dulleh, File)

By Associated Press May 11, 2015 1 min read

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) – An independent panel of experts studying what went wrong in the World Health Organization’s response to the Ebola crisis says it’s still not clear why it took so long for the body to take action.

The Ebola epidemic that has now killed more than 11,000 people first became known in March 2014.

In the panel’s first report issued Monday, it said it was still unclear why the early warnings “did not result in an effective and adequate response.”

In particular the experts say that the World Health Organization needs “deep and substantial organizational change.”

Ebola continues to spread in the West African nations of Guinea and Sierra Leone, while Liberia was declared Ebola-free on Saturday.