(CNN) — Global health experts Friday declared the Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa an international health emergency that requires a coordinated global approach.
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are battling the Ebola virus, which has killed 932 people in those countries. The epidemic has also spread to Nigeria.
“The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus, the intensive community and health facility transmission patterns, and the weak health systems in the currently affected and most at-risk countries,” the World health Organization said Friday, after two days of emergency meetings.
The United Nations health agency described it as the worst outbreak in the four-decade history of tracking the disease.
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“A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola,” WHO said.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said the fast-spreading disease has overwhelmed her nation’s health care system.
“The scope and scale of the epidemic … now exceed the capacity and statutory responsibility of any one government agency or ministry,” she said.
