There have been 8,997 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain and the United States up to the end of 12 October.
A total of 4,493 people have died from EVD.
While the situation in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is deteriorating with widespread and persistent transmission of EVD, the last confirmed cases in Senegal and Nigeria were reported on 29 August and 8 September respectively.
Both Spain and the United States continue to monitor potential outbreaks.
"The virus continues to accelerate in West Africa and the World Health Organisation says that half of the nearly 5,000 cases occurred in the last three weeks. It warns that as many as 20,000 could be infected with the disease, making control extremely difficult," the Department of Health said in a statement.
"However, most cases are concentrated in only a few localities,"
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said in August the department would continue to give the South African public regular updates on the EVD outbreak in the West of Africa. The travel advisory issued by Cabinet in August is also being strictly enforced.
South Africa took the decision to impose a total travel ban for all non-citizens traveling from identified high risk countries to limit the spread of Ebola to this country, unless the travel is classified as essential.
The first-ever United Nations emergency health mission, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has been set up to stop the spread of the disease, treat infected patients, ensure essential services, preserve stability and prevent the spread to countries currently unaffected by EVD.
The Word Health Organisation (WHO) continues to be responsible for overall health strategy and advice and has moved its headquarters from Conakry in Guinea, to the UNMEER Mission headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
A comprehensive 90-day plan to control and reverse the EVD epidemic in West Africa is underway. WHO continues to monitor reports of suspected cases of EVD from other countries around the world.
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