Warning of a worsening health crisis in African nations struck by Ebola, the United States announced on Monday it is sending 3,000 military personnel to the region to help fight the disease.
The American Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, told reporters ahead of the announcement that the Ebola crisis can be contained but must be met with stronger international action. "The trendlines in this crisis are grave, and without immediate international action we are facing the potential for a public health crisis that could claim lives on a scale far greater than current estimates, and set the countries of West Africa back a generation," Power said, according to the Associated Press.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the worst in history. More than 4,700 cases have been reported across the region and at least 2,400 people have succumbed to the disease so far, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Because many cases go unreported, these figures are believed to be smaller than the real number of people infected with the virus.
The map below details the number of reported deaths caused by Ebola in each region. Take a look to understand just how hard some parts of West Africa nations have been hit by the virus.
Sources: World Health Organization, countries' Ministries of Health. Totals as of Oct. 7, 2014. Map by Jan Diehm and Lauren Weber for The Huffington Post.