GENEVA: The Ebola epidemic is set to explode unless the response is radically intensified, the WHO said on Tuesday, warning that hundreds of thousands could be infected by the end of the year.

The UN agency said in a report that new cases would surge from hundreds each week to thousands without “drastic improvements in control measures”, with the number of infections set to more than triple to 20,000 by November.

“We’ve rather modestly only extended the projections to November 2, but if you go to... January 2, you’re into hundreds of thousands,” said Christopher Dye, the head of strategy at the World Health Organisation and a co-author of the study.

The research paper warns that the outbreak could drag on for years and become entrenched in west Africa, which has already seen almost 3,000 deaths.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014