Ebola outbreak threatens global economy: WB head

PARIS (Xinhua) - World Bank (WB) boss, Jim Yong Kim, rang the alarming bell of Ebola outbreak which left thousands of victims in West Africa and risk to spread out outside the continent, urging boosted international cooperation to treat the deadly virus.

"We are losing the battle (against Ebola)," said Kim, adding that the Ebola threat was worsening as "some regional countries consider only their own borders."

"We do not yet have the global solidarity needed to bring it (the outbreak) under control. I don't think that the world has understood the potential risk of the Ebola virus," the World Bank head told Xinhua.

"The threat is not only for the economy of West Africa, but also for the global economy," he said during a press conference hold late on Friday at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

World Bank data showed the Ebola epidemic could cost Africa 32 billion U.S. dollars.

The virus has killed 4,493 patients in seven countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the United States since its outbreak, according to the latest figures from World Health Organization.

Its symptoms include fever, muscle pain, vomiting and bleeding,  and may appear as long as 21 days after exposure to the virus.