A World Health Organization official Tuesday stated that up to 10,000 new cases of the deadly Ebola virus can be expected each week by December. WHO assistant director-general Bruce Aylward told a press conference in Geneva that 8,914 cases of ebola have currently been reported in West Africa alone, including 4,447 deaths. That the total was expected to top 9,000 by the end of this week.

When asked how the situation would emerge over the next couple of months, he said: “It’s impossible to look into a glass ball and say we’re going to have this many or that many (cases) but we anticipate the number of cases occurring per week by that time, it’s going to be somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 per week. Maybe higher, maybe lower”.

Aylward also warned that the morality rate had now increased to 70% of those contracting the virus whereas it previously stood at about 50%.

Some 95% of the cases are occurring in the same limited number of districts of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea which were affected a month ago, he said, and that it was “concerning” that the disease was continuing to expand geographically within all three countries, with escalating case numbers in their capital cities.

The UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response, newly set up to coordinate the fight against the disease, has set targets to isolate 70% of suspected Ebola cases and safely bury 70% of the dead within the next 60 days – described as the 70-70-60 plan. This is a tough target, said Dr. Aylward, but if it takes 90 days rather than 60, “a lot more people will die who shouldn’t and we will need that much more capacity on the ground to manage the caseload”

As cases mount and the virus spreads, there will be an increased need for beds and for health personnel to treat the sick. “There is a serious shortage of trained and experienced people to lead the effort” he said. “There is still the challenge of getting internationals on the ground who have expertise – in Ebola ideally.”

Experts say the epidemic is doubling in size about every three weeks.