U.N. rep: Ebola outbreak could be 'gone by the summer'
The head of the U.N.'s Ebola mission has told BBC News that the outbreak will likely be over by August.
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told BBC News that the U.N. acted "arrogantly" when it first started responding to the Ebola outbreak, adding that "there was probably a lack of knowledge" when the outbreak began.
"But I think we are learning lessons," Ahmed said. "We have been running away from giving any specific date, but I am pretty sure myself that it will be gone by the summer."
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The World Health Organization announced the Ebola outbreak in Guinea on March 23, 2014. Since then, the virus has killed more than 10,000 people in West Africa, according to WHO estimates.
Ahmed's prediction comes as Liberia announced its first recorded Ebola case in more than two weeks on Friday, after the country came close to being Ebola-free. The number of Ebola cases in Guinea is also rising since the beginning of the year, BBC News reports.
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Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.