#News: 'Biggest Ebola outbreak in history'

[CNN]

 (CNN) -- A nurse in Nigeria. A businessman in Saudi Arabia. A Spanish priest in Liberia.

With the World Health Organization announcing Wednesday that 932 deaths had been reported or confirmed as a result of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, Saudi Arabia joined the list of countries with suspected cases.

"This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

Nearly all of those deaths have been in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where more than 1,700 cases have been reported, according to WHO. The agency said 108 new cases were reported between Saturday and Monday in those countries and Nigeria.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has declared a state of emergency for 90 days because of the deadly outbreak, her office announced Wednesday.

    Aid worker Nancy Writebol, wearing a protective suit, is wheeled into Emory University Hospital on a gurney Tuesday, August 5, in Atlanta. A medical plane flew Writebol from Liberia to Atlanta after she and her colleague, Dr. Kent Brantly, were infected with the Ebola virus in the West African country. Health officials say the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the deadliest ever.       Nigerian health officials are on hand to screen passengers at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday, August 4. The World Health Organization reports that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria has infected more than 1,440 people and killed more than 800 this year.       A man gets sprayed with disinfectant Sunday, August 3, in Monrovia, Liberia.       Dr. Kent Brantly, right, gets out of an ambulance after arriving at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Saturday, August 2. Brantly was infected with the Ebola virus in Africa, but he was brought back to the United States for further treatment.       Nurses wearing protective clothing are sprayed with disinfectant Friday, August 1, in Monrovia after they prepared the bodies of Ebola victims for burial.       A nurse disinfects the waiting area at the ELWA Hospital in Monrovia on Monday, July 28.        Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, right, walks past an Ebola awareness poster in downtown Monrovia as Liberia marked the 167th anniversary of its independence Saturday, July 26. The Liberian government dedicated the anniversary to fighting the deadly disease.        In this photo provided by Samaritan's Purse, Dr. Kent Brantly, left, treats an Ebola patient in Monrovia. On July 26, the North Carolina-based group said Brantly tested positive for the disease. Days later, Brantly arrived in Georgia to be treated at an Atlanta hospital, becoming the first Ebola patient to knowingly be treated in the United States.       A 10-year-old boy whose mother was killed by the Ebola virus walks with a doctor from the aid organization Samaritan's Purse after being taken out of quarantine Thursday, July 24, in Monrovia.       A doctor puts on protective gear at the treatment center in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, on Sunday, July 20.       Members of Doctors Without Borders adjust tents in the isolation area in Kailahun on July 20.       Boots dry in the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 20.       Red Cross volunteers prepare to enter a house where an Ebola victim died in Pendembu, Sierra Leone, on Friday, July 18.       Dr. Jose Rovira of the World Health Organization takes a swab from a suspected Ebola victim in Pendembu on July 18.       Red Cross volunteers disinfect each other with chlorine after removing the body of an Ebola victim from a house in Pendembu on July 18.       A dressing assistant prepares a Doctors Without Borders member before entering an isolation ward Thursday, July 17, in Kailahun.       A doctor works in the field laboratory at the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 17.       Doctors Without Borders staff prepare to enter the isolation ward at an Ebola treatment center in Kailahun on July 17.       A health worker with disinfectant spray walks down a street outside the government hospital in Kenema, Sierra Leone, on Thursday, July 10.        Dr. Mohamed Vandi of the Kenema Government Hospital trains community volunteers who will aim to educate people about Ebola in Sierra Leone.       Police block a road outside Kenema to stop motorists for a body temperature check on Wednesday, July 9.       A woman has her temperature taken at a screening checkpoint on the road out of Kenema on July 9.       A member of Doctors Without Borders puts on protective gear at the isolation ward of the Donka Hospital in Conakry, Guinea, on Saturday, June 28.       Airport employees check passengers in Conakry before they leave the country on Thursday, April 10.       CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, left, works in the World Health Organization's mobile lab in Conakry. Gupta traveled to Guinea in April to report on the deadly virus.       A Guinea-Bissau customs official watches arrivals from Conakry on Tuesday, April 8.       Egidia Almeida, a nurse in Guinea-Bissau, scans a Guinean citizen coming from Conakry on April 8.        A scientist separates blood cells from plasma cells to isolate any Ebola RNA and test for the virus Thursday, April 3, at the European Mobile Laboratory in Gueckedou, Guinea.       Members of Doctors Without Borders carry a dead body in Gueckedou on Friday, April 1.        Gloves and boots used by medical personnel dry in the sun April 1 outside a center for Ebola victims in Gueckedou.       A health specialist works Monday, March 31, in a tent laboratory set up at a Doctors Without Borders facility in southern Guinea.       Health specialists work March 31 at an isolation ward for patients at the facility in southern Guinea.       Workers associated with Doctors Without Borders prepare isolation and treatment areas Friday, March 28, in Guinea.        Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa Ebola outbreak in West Africa HIDE CAPTION   << <      1      2      3      4      5      6      7      8      9      10      11      12      13      14      15      16      17      18      19      20      21      22      23      24      25      26      27      28      29      30      31      32      33   > >>     Photos: Ebola outbreak in West Africa       CDC raises Ebola response to level 1     New fears Ebola virus is spreading  "The scope and scale of the epidemic, the virulence and deadliness of the virus now exceed the capacity and statutory responsibility of any one government agency or ministry," she said in a written statement. "The government and people of Liberia require extraordinary measures for the very survival of our state and for the protection of the lives of our people."

She said Ebola is a "clear and present danger."

Concerns about the spread of the deadly virus escalated with Saudi Arabia reporting that a man died, apparently of the virus, after a trip to Sierra Leone, and Nigeria reported that a nurse died after treating someone believed to have contracted Ebola in Liberia.

WHO did not immediately confirm the deaths, and its count of Ebola cases does not include the two.

The Saudi man died Wednesday at a specialized hospital in Jeddah, the Saudi Ministry of Health said.

He had been in intensive care since late Monday "after exhibiting symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever following a business trip to Sierra Leone," the ministry said in a statement.

The nurse in Nigeria had helped care for Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American man, who died in Nigeria after traveling there from Liberia, Nigeria's Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Read more about Patrick Sawyer's death

The news of the nurse's death came the same day that Nigeria confirmed another five cases of Ebola, the Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a Spanish priest who contracted the disease in Liberia arrived at Torrejon military air base in Madrid on Thursday.

Spain's Ministry of Defense used a medically equipped Airbus A310 to transport Brother Miguel Pajares to Madrid, who will be treated at Madrid's La Paz hospital, Spanish officials said.

He is the first Ebola patient to be evacuated to Europe.

In the United States, two patients are being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta: American doctor Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, who had been in Liberia. Emory is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment.

Writebol arrived in Atlanta on Tuesday, just days after Brantly arrived.

"We were able to spend a few minutes with her to encourage her and be encouraged by her condition," Writebol's son, Jeremy, said in a statement.

Ethicist: Give Africans the Ebola serum     Inside an Ebola outbreak epicenter     Can they make enough Ebola serum?  A male patient at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has tested negative for Ebola, the hospital announced Wednesday. The patient, who had a fever and gastrointestinal symptoms, is improving and is listed in stable condition, the hospital said in a written statement.

The man became ill after recently traveling to West Africa. A specimen from the patient was delivered Tuesday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which confirmed he didn't have Ebola.

Is experimental drug helping?

Both Brantly and Writebol have been given the experimental drug ZMapp, which had not been tested on humans nor has it undergone any clinical trials.

Doctors say it's too early to tell whether ZMapp is effective.

The CDC says it's not likely the drug will become available for patients in West Africa.

"The product is still in an experimental stage, and the manufacturer reports that there is a very limited supply, so it cannot be purchased and is not available for general use," the CDC said.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that "we've got to let the science guide us" on whether to make the experimental drug more widely available. "I don't think all the information is in on whether this drug is helpful," he added during a news conference at the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.

Opinion: Make more Ebola drug and give it to Africans

The World Health Organization will convene a medical ethics panel early next week to answer questions about whom should receive ZMapp, given that it is in limited supply.

"We have a disease with a high fatality rate without any proven treatment or vaccine," said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general at WHO.

"We need to ask the medical ethicists to give us guidance on what the responsible thing to do is," she said.

9 questions about this new Ebola drug

'It won't be easy'

Frieden said putting an end to the Ebola outbreak will "take many months, and it won't be easy, but Ebola can be stopped," he said. "We know what needs to be done."

The United States is planning to send 50 health experts to West Africa to help contain the outbreak, which President Obama addressed in remarks Wednesday, saying citizens of the affected countries are in Americans' thoughts and prayers.

"What we have done is to make sure we're surging not just U.S. resources, but we have reached out to European partners and partners from other countries working with the WHO," Obama said. "Let's get all the health workers that we need on the ground. Let's help to bolster the systems that they already have in place."

Obama said the U.S. is focusing on a public health approach first, and he will seek information about new drugs later.

Frieden said the 50 experts from the CDC will work to combat the outbreak and help implement stronger systems to fight the disease.

The agency raised the activation level of its emergency operations center in Atlanta to its highest level, meaning more employees are working in the emergency center.

In Geneva, Switzerland, members of WHO's Emergency Committee of International Experts were receiving an briefing and trying to determine whether to recommend the outbreak is an international public health emergency.

The committee will release its findings on Friday.

What is Ebola?

The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding.

Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding.

Ebola spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. It has no known cure. The most common treatment requires supporting organ functions and maintaining bodily fluids such as blood and water long enough for the body to fight off the infection.

5 reasons not to panic about Ebola in the U.S.

What is the risk of catching Ebola on a plane?

Experts: U.S. health care system well-prepared for Ebola

Ebola's frontline: Battling fear and deadly virus

CNN's Khushbu Shah, Ashley Fantz, Marilia Brocchetto and Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
Source: CNN

[CNN]