As the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to battle the severe Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the organization released a statement aimed at reassuring travelers that the virus posed "low risk" to air travel.
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According to a tweet, released August 14:
Air travel, even from #Ebola-affected countries, is low-risk for Ebola transmission #alert
— WHO (@WHO) August 14, 2014
At the same time, the WHO released a statement on its website documenting the latest on the outbreak. Thus far, there have been 1975 cases and 1069 deaths reported in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, the WHO reports. There have been no new cases detected in Nigeria following an infected air traveler last month.
The WHO warned that there is evidence that reported numbers of Ebola cases and deaths "vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak." The outbreak is expected to continue for some time, with the WHO implementing a response plan over the next several months.
The WHO statement is available here.