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Freetown – The World Health Organisation says the transmission of Ebola remains “intense” and widespread in Sierra Leone, even as some improvements are being seen in the two other countries worst hit by the crisis.

Nearly 200 new cases were confirmed in Sierra Leone’s capital in a recent one-week period.

The WHO report released late on Wednesday indicated that Sierra Leone had the lowest percentage of Ebola patients who had been isolated — only 13 percent.

The disease is spread through direct physical contact with the bodily fluids of sick people and bodies, making it crucial that those who are contagious are placed into isolation.

WHO said that at least 1,250 people, including seven of the country’s doctors, have died in Sierra Leone since the outbreak there began earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that 5,420 people had so far died of Ebola across eight countries, out of a total 15,145 cases of infection, since late December 2013.

On Friday, the UN health agency had reported 5,177 deaths and 14,413 cases.

WHO believes that the number of deaths is likely far higher, given that the fatality rate in the current outbreak is known to be around 70 percent.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever continues to affect Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone the most.

But the fresh toll came as the spread appeared to be slowing in the capital of Liberia, allowing the hardest-hit country to lift its state of emergency. – AFP