West Africa is in the midst of the worst Ebola outbreak in history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that some 9,000 people have contracted the disease so far. Heath officials put the death toll at around 4,500, meaning that one in two people who get Ebola in this outbreak die. The odds are not good.

An actor, playing the role of Ebola, prepares before a performance during an awareness campaign against the virus at Anono school in Abidjan. Photograph: Luc Gnago/Reuters

A school official takes a pupil’s temperature using an infrared digital laser thermometer in front of the school premises, at the resumption of private schools, in Lagos. Photograph: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters

Protective suits are displayed as US Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault, who are earmarked for the fight against Ebola, take part in training before their deployment to West Africa, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The US military is ramping up its response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Photograph: Harrison McClary/Reuters

Bystanders read headlines saying ‘Ebola 1: USA 0’ at the Daily Talk, a street side chalkboard newspaper, in Monrovia. Photograph:James Giahyue/Reuters

Emergency workers in hazmat suits work in a Pentagon parking lot after a woman who recently traveled to Africa vomited there, in Washington. The Pentagon confirmed an Ebola scare on Friday in one of its parking lots when the woman vomited after getting off a bus headed to a high-level Marine Corps ceremony. She was taken to InovaFairfaxHospital. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

A screen displays information about Ebola virus at Tocumen International airport in Panama City. Panama has stepped up precautionary measures against Ebola across the Central American country after the United States confirmed Wednesday a second Texas healthcare worker has tested positive for the virus. Photograph: Rafael Ibarra/Reuters

Health workers wearing protective equipment hold hands as they pray at the start of their shift before entering the Ebola treatment centre at the Island Clinic in Monrovia. After being refurbished by the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners, the Island Clinic opened its doors as an Ebola treatment centre on September 21. Within 24 hours of opening, the clinic was filled beyond capacity. Photograph: Christopher Black/WHO/Reuters

A nurse wearing a protective mask examines a patient in the emergency department at Al-NoorSpecialistHospital in Mecca. Photograph: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

Italian Air Force soldiers attend a military exercise preparing to help people infected with the Ebola virus in the event that it happens, at the Pratica di Mare Air Base, near Rome. Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters

A man walks by a mural reading ‘Ebola is real’ in Monrovia, Liberia. Photograph: James Giahyue/Reuters