Ebola deaths top 8,000 in worst-hit West Africa - WHO

An unidentified healthcare worker wears protective gear before entering the quarantine zone at the British-run Save the Children Kerry Town Ebola treatment centre outside Freetown, Sierra Leone, December 22, 2014. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/Files

GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 8,000 people have died of Ebola in the three worst-affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Reporting the latest figures in the year-long epidemic, the U.N. health agency said 8,153 people had died among 20,656 known cases of the haemorrhagic fever in the three countries. Sierra Leone recorded the biggest rise in fatalities, with 88 since the previous figures were issued on Jan. 2. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Alison Williams)