The World Health Organization said on Aug. 11 that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is now an international emergency.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan asked for a global response, calling the outbreak the most severe and complex one in 40 years of the disease’s history.

As of the third week of August, the number of those killed from the virus stood around 1,000, according to statistics.

WHO vaccine chief Jean-Marie Okwo Bele said in an interview with AFP that the agency would take emergency measures and try its best to have a vaccine available by 2015.

By Ro Ji-woong (jamesro@heraldcorp.com)