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Number of Ebola cases worldwide nears 10,000

Posted at 8:17 AM, Oct 23, 2014
and last updated 2014-10-23 09:17:53-04

The number of people worldwide infected with the Ebola virus is closing in on 10,000, according to world health officials.

The Centers for Disease Control reports 9,916 people are infected worldwide, with 5,481 having died from Ebola infection.

Earlier this week, WHO declared Nigeria free of the Ebola virus. It was required to be free of the disease for 42 days.

While WHO was first alerted to the Ebola outbreak in March 2014, officials say investigations show it started in December 2013.

In the U.S., two nurses are the only known cases of Ebola. Amber Vinson was moved out of isolation and is believed to be free of the disease, and Nina Pham is improving, according to reports. Both had contact with a patient who had died after getting Ebola while in West Africa.

On Wednesday, airplane cabin cleaners at Philadelphia International Airport rallied outside of a terminal there, seeking safer procedures to protect workers against infectious diseases. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the rally came two weeks after a strike at New York's LaGuardia Airport in which cleaners said they had been exposed to blood and vomit on planes and were not equipped with needed protective gear.

Ebola: Tracking the path of the virus on Dipity.