DAKAR, Senegal -- The World Health Organization says an Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has claimed 137 lives.
The disease, typically found in central or eastern Africa, has infected people in Guinea's remote forests, its capital and in neighbouring Liberia.
In a statement posted on its website Thursday, the U.N. health agency said authorities have identified more than 220 suspected or confirmed cases of the disease in the two countries. Nearly 200 of those are in Guinea.
There is no cure and no vaccine for the disease, which causes patients to bleed internally and externally. It is highly contagious, and infected people are held in isolated wards.
The European Union announced Thursday that it was increasing its aid to those providing care for Ebola patients to 1.4 million euros ($1.9 million).
