TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government of Philippines is set to evacuate around 3,500 workers from three countries hit by Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, according to the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila on Sunday, August 24, 2014.

"We are preparing for the mandatary repatriation of Philippine citizens in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, in light of the growing threat of the Ebola outbreak," said the Ministry's spokesperson, Charles Jose in a statement.

Jose said that current records indicate that there 880 citizens of the Philippines living in Guinea, 632 in Liberia - which includes 148 peacekeeping troops - and another 1,979 in Sierra Leone.

Previously, a Filipino sailor that was thought to have contracted Ebola in Togo had been released after test results came back negative for the virus but positive for Influenza.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the global Ebola epidemic has claimed more than 1,350 lives this year, with the majority of casualties reported in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.

On Friday, WHO said in Geneva that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed 1,427 lives out of the 2,615 known cases. A revised WHO report included 142 new cases, and 77 more fatalities in four countries worst-hit by the outbreak - Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

Previously, WHO said that the actual scale of the current Ebola epidemic remains under-reported as many sufferers are hidden by their families inside their homes, creating 'shadowed areas' that stops medical personnels from performing the necessary checks and evaluation of the scale of the outbreak.

ANTARA | AK | DESY SAPUTRA