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Since March, the Ebola virus outbreak has infected 5,864 people and caused 2,811 deaths in West Africa. With no proven treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) is scrambling to halt an epidemic its officials say is unparalleled in severity, complexity, and scale-which is likely underreported.

Key facts The Ebola virus causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks in humans. Viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to 90%. Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests.

The deadly virus devastating West Africa likely will make it across the Atlantic, but the U.S. is better able to deal with it.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office says all travel to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia should be avoided - unless essential, due to the Ebola outbreak. British Airways has suspended flights to Sierra Leone and Liberia and other airlines are taking similar measures.

As world health officials struggle to respond to the Ebola epidemic, Pakistan has passed a grim milestone in its efforts to combat another major global health crisis: the fight against polio. Over the weekend, Pakistan logged its 200th new polio case of 2014, the nation's highest transmission rate in more than a dozen years.