New predictions for the future of the current Ebola epidemic are continuing to worsen. The Centers for Disease and Prevention now estimates 1.4 million estimated cases can be reached in January.
Unless effective methods to contain the disease are instated by the beginning of 2015, CDC officials believe the amount of Ebola cases will top one million, reports the New York Times.
The CDC's projections are based on an epidemiological model that looks at how many additional people each Ebola patient infects, as well as other factors, reports Reuters. They did not include the possible affects the U.S. will have on the situation after they send 3,000 members of their armed-forces to the infected area.
International health agencies say there are likely 2.5 times more Ebola cases in the world that are going unreported. CDC took those unreported cases into consideration when making their estimate according to NYTimes.
"My gut feeling is, the actions we're taking now are going to make that worst-case scenario not come to pass," Thomas R. Frieden, CDC director, tells NY Times. "But it's important to understand that it could happen."
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is suggesting the Ebola disease may never entirely disappear from West Africa, where the highest number of cases are being reported.
The CDC never predicted the possibility of Ebola staying in the region for good, but it's a topic that health officials have feared since the beginning of the outbreak six months ago.
As of this morning, the official WHO death count is 2,803 and there are 5,843 reported cases.
