--- description: The U.N.'s special envoy on Ebola said Thursday that it would be several months before the outbreak in West Africa is under control title: U.N.: Ebola Outbreak Not Over Yet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96265bbccdf0cdcc/69876e61e53abac7d94d6805/liberia-ebola-missed-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [ebola](/tag/ebola/) ## ebola Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.N.: Ebola Outbreak Will Take Several More Months to Contain by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2014 5:21 AM CUT  Health workers wearing Ebola protective gear spray the shrouded body of a suspected Ebola victim with disinfectant at an Ebola treatment center at Tubmanburg, on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, on Nov. 28, 2014 Health workers wearing Ebola protective gear spray the shrouded body of a suspected Ebola victim with disinfectant at an Ebola treatment center at Tubmanburg, on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, on Nov. 28, 2014Abbas Dulleh—AP by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2014 5:21 AM CUT The U.N.’s special envoy on Ebola said Thursday that it would be several [months](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fac350cacdaf405382abad8703fa30fa/un-says-several-months-needed-control-ebola "undefined") before the outbreak in West Africa is under control. Dr. David Nabarro said international governments as well as local communities had taken a “massive shift” in responding to the crisis over the past four month, the Associated Press reports. However, he noted that more needed to be done to contain the spread of the disease in western Sierra Leone and northern Mali. “It’s going to take, I’m afraid, several more months before we can truly declare that the outbreak is coming under control,” Nabarro said. The World Health Organization aimed to have 100% of cases isolated by Jan. 1, but acknowledges that previous targets have not been met. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fac350cacdaf405382abad8703fa30fa/un-says-several-months-needed-control-ebola "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/"},"headline":"U.N.: Ebola Outbreak Will Take Several More Months to Contain","datePublished":"2014-12-12T05:21:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:48:11.642Z","description":"The U.N. goal of containing 100% of Ebola cases by Jan. 1 will not be met","url":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/","keywords":["ebola","United Nations","Sierra Leone","Mali","Liberia","West Africa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96265bbccdf0cdcc/69876e61e53abac7d94d6805/liberia-ebola-missed-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96265bbccdf0cdcc/69876e61e53abac7d94d6805/liberia-ebola-missed-_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Liberia Ebola Missed Goals","caption":"Liberia Ebola Missed Goals","creditText":"Abbas Dulleh—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/","name":"U.N.: Ebola Outbreak Will Take Several More Months to Contain"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ebola Fighters in West Africa - TIME's Person of the Year 2014","description":"Hundreds of doctors, nurses and health workers work every day to treat and contain the outbreak in the hot zone","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/laroqNbt/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-10T11:46:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/laroqNbt.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/","duration":"PT10M47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3631218/u-n-ebola-deadline/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```