UN envoy urges sustained int'l efforts to fight Ebola

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - A UN envoy on Ebola Friday urged sustained global fight against the deadly virus until the last case is treated, cautioning that dropping infection rates do not guarantee any let-up.

"Even if we get a reduction in the rate of increase, it does not mean the outbreak is under control ... It just means we are on the right path," the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Ebola, David Nabarro, told the press.

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a decline in burials and sickbed occupancy rates, as well as a plateau in lab-reported new cases in Liberia.

"Don't assume that just because the numbers are reducing and there are empty beds in some of the treatment centers, that means you can take off the pressure," he said.

Meanwhile, Nabarro also spoke out against imposing too strict travel restrictions on those returning from Ebola-affected countries.

"Returning health workers are exceptional people giving for humanity," he said, noting that "there's no scientific basis for putting them in quarantine unless there is a suggestion that they might have Ebola."

"So, if they've got no symptoms please think very hard before putting restrictions on them. We really do not want to jeopardize the efforts to mobilize health workers. We don't want them feeling that they will be made unwelcome in their countries of origin when they return," he said.

The envoy said the UN Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund has received around 116 million US dollars in commitments, and these funds will be used for the most critical, unfunded priorities of the response.

The WHO said Friday that the death toll of the Ebola virus outbreak rose slightly to 4,951 out of 13,567 cases as of Wednesday in west Africa plus Spain and the United States.