Death toll may be three times higher than reported

The official WHO death toll from the virus stands at 4,877 as of Oct. 19, while at least 9,936 cases of the disease had been recorded, but the organization says the real figures may be three times as high. The real numbers are higher by a factor of 1.5 in Guinea, 2 in Sierra Leone and 2.5 in Liberia, while the death rate is thought to be about 70 percent of all cases. WHO on why so many have caught the disease:

Early indications are that a substantial proportion of infections occurred outside the context of Ebola treatment and care