TEMPO.CO, Guinea - The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that the deaths caused by Ebola could surpass 20,000 lives if the outbreak of the virus cannot be contained.

The WHO published new figures on Friday that shows 3,069 people have been infected by the virus and 1,552 people have died in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The organization warned that around 12,000 people may have fallen victim to the deadly virus.

A research conducted by Harvard University dicovered that the virus has moved from Guinea to Sierra Leone after 13 women became infected at the funeral of a herbalist who had been treating Ebola patients in Guinea. During the funeral, it is customary for mourners to embrace the body of the deceased, triggering warning from health agencies that such action could spread the disease.

The research also discovered that the recent outbreak in Central Africa was probably caused by fruit bats. In addition, the research highlighted the death of health workers and scientists who died from Ebola.

"There is an extraordinary battle still ahead, and we have lost many friends and colleagues already like our good friend and colleague Dr. Humarr Khan, a co-senior author [in Harvard]," said Stephen Gire, a research scientist at Harvard, as quoted by Telegraph.

Due to the rapid spread of the virus, the WHO said that it needs a additional 300 million Poundsterling (Rp 5.8 trillion) over the next nine months and requires more than 12,750 emergency workers.

"What we are seeing today, in contrast to previous Ebola outbreaks: multiple hotspots within these countries - not a single, remote forested area, the kind of environments that have been tackled in the past," said Dr Burce Aylward, WHO’s assistance director-general for emergency operations.

TELEGRAPH | SUNDARI