Health Ministers from eleven West African nationals are agreeing on a joint strategy to combat the Ebola outbreak in the region, the deadliest outbreak the world has eve seen.  But UN World Health Organization (WHO) officials are warning that the outbreak could last for several more months.

The WHO called ministers together for an emergency meeting in Accra, Ghana.  They committed to better surveillance to detect cases of the virus; enhancing cross-border collaboration; better engagement with local communities; and closer cooperation with the WHO, US Centers for Disease Control, and other partners such as NGOs like Medecins sans Frontieres and the Red Cross.

The ministers and the WHO also agreed that the UN health agency would establish a sub-regional control center in Guinea to coordinate technical support.  Rather than close borders, officials would mobilize community, religious, and political leaders to educate people about the disease.

The current outbreak has been difficult to contain, because it required coordinating the efforts of three governments – Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.  They’ve been individually battling mistrust of health workers, misinformation about Ebola Disease, and even local superstitions that have a few people believing that Ebola is witchcraft.

467 people are confirmed dead of Ebola in this outbreak.  This strain has killed 60 percent of those infected.