REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CONAKRY -- The Ebola virus disease has claimed the lives of 72 people in Guinea since January, according to a latest update from the Health Ministry of the West African country.

The figure builds on the previous toll of 61 announced on April 19 by the authorities in Guinea, which has become the epicenter of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa.

Dr Sakoba Keita, the Guinean health ministry official leading the fight against the Ebola virus disease, said Friday that there are 115 confirmed cases of the deadly disease.

From April 17 to 24, Guinean disease treatment centers recorded six new dead cases, of which one was in capital Conakry and five in the southern Guekedou prefecture, said Keita.