Ebola toll nears 7,000; rate of spread slows in Sierra Leone - WHO

Reuters
A grave digger holds a sign with the name of an Ebola victim during funerals at a cemetery in Freetown, December 17, 2014.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The death toll in the Ebola epidemic has risen to 6,915 out of 18,603 cases as of Dec. 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. There are signs that the increase in incidence in Sierra Leone has slowed, although 327 new cases were confirmed there in the past week, including 125 in the capital Freetown, the WHO said in its latest update. "A major operation has been implemented to curb the spread of disease in the west of the country," it said.