GLOBAL health experts Friday declared the Ebola epidemic ravaging West Africa an international health emergency that requires a coordinated global approach.

    Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are battling the Ebola virus, which has also spread to Nigeria.

    “The possible consequences of further international spread are particularly serious in view of the virulence of the virus, the intensive community and health facility transmission patterns, and the weak health systems in the currently affected and most at-risk countries,” WHO said Friday after two days of emergency meetings.

    The U.N. health agency described it as the worst outbreak in the four-decade history of tracking the disease.

    “A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola,” WHO said.

    Medical aid groups applauded the designation, but said that it alone won’t reduce fatalities.

    “Declaring Ebola an international public health emergency shows how seriously WHO is taking the current outbreak, but statements won’t save lives,” said Dr. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian organization. “Now we need this statement to translate into immediate action on the ground. Lives are being lost because the response is too slow.”

    Meanwhile, a WHO official said bogus information is adding to the rapid spread of the disease.

    “Perhaps one of the most important factors contributing to this is fear and misinformation,” said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, assistant director for health security.

    “This is critical to understand, because what it is doing is fostering suspicion and anxiety in communities, and when that happens we see a situation where people are reluctant to go to health facilities or maybe reluctant to bring their family members there.”

    Though infectious, Ebola “is not mysterious” and can be contained, Fukuda said.

    Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said the fast-spreading disease has overwhelmed her nation’s health care system.

    The Liberian leader declared a 90-day state of emergency this week, which will allow her government to set up a series of measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

    (SD-Agencies)