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

Volunteers carry bodies in a centre run by Medecins Sans Frontieres for Ebola patients in Kailahun July 18, 2014. REUTERS/WHO/Tarik Jasarevic/Handout via Reuters/Files

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. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Andrew Roche)