WHO: Ebola is 'the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times'

WHO: Ebola is &#039;the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times&#039;

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

The World Health Organization announced Monday that the current Ebola outbreak is "the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times."

Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, said at a conference in the Philippines on Monday that Ebola's economic costs could be lowered if people were trained to take precautions to avoid contracting the disease. Chan added that "fear of infection has spread around the world much faster than the virus."