WHO warns Ebola response to cost $1B

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that it will cost a minimum of $1 billion to limit the Ebola epidemic to “tens of thousands” of cases. 

The comment underscores the gravity of the growing outbreak, which officials called “unparalleled in modern times.” 

{mosads}”We don’t know where the numbers are going on this,” WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward said, according to Reuters. 

WHO is soliciting funds from countries around the world, as the group itself cannot muster enough money to bankroll work on the ground. 

The United States is planning to spend more than $750 million to fight Ebola, though some of the money will go to research on vaccines and treatments, not assistance in Western Africa. 

Aid workers have predicted an explosion of new cases across five countries as victims of the disease overwhelm healthcare facilities. 

Ebola kills most of its victims and is spread by bodily fluids. At least 2,461 people have died from the virus this year, a total that has doubled in one month. 

President Obama will announce new actions in the U.S.’s fight against Ebola during a speech at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Tuesday, including the deployment of 3,000 troops to Liberia.