World Bank trims estimate of Ebola economic cost

WASHINGTON: The World Bank trimmed its estimates of the economic damage of the Ebola epidemic on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila), but warned that the three main affected countries would still bear a heavy cost. After warning last October that the outbreak, which has killed more than 8,600, could wreak $25 billion in economic losses across all of West Africa, the bank said that with Ebola now broadly contained, the toll could run to $6.2 billion. However, the epidemic "will continue to cripple the economies of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone even as transmission rates in the three countries show significant signs of slowing," it said.

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