Ebola cases rise sharply in Sierra Leone: WHO

The western African country of Sierra Leone is reporting a sharp rise in the number of new Ebola cases,  with 435 confirmed in the past week, according to reports. 

The latest report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that only 24 percent of the Ebola cases in Sierra Leone have been reported in the past three weeks. 

In the past 21 days there have been 1,174 new Ebola cases in Sierra Leone, almost triple the 398 new cases in Liberia and more than quadruple the 256 new cases in Guinea, according to figures released Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

Ebola transmission in Guinea, where the outbreak started, "remains intense," according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) said in its weekly report that a total of 1,062 people had died in Sierra Leone from the virus, with the outbreak particularly virulent in the western areas around the coastal capital Freetown.

Sierra Leone has 288 beds spread across four Ebola Treatment Centres (ETCs) treating 196 confirmed cases of the disease as of Nov. 2, UNMEER said.

"An additional 731 safe beds need to be planned, secured and made available by the first week of December," UNMEER said in its report, released late on Wednesday.

"Lack of available beds in ETCs is forcing families to care for patients at home, where caregivers are unable to adequately protect themselves from EVD exposure, thereby increasing transmission risk."

Ebola, for which there is no cure, is spread through contact with bodily fluids. About 70 percent of people who get Ebola have died in this outbreak.