Health officials say the West African Ebola Epidemic may have turned a corner – And the news is good enough to get them thinking about finally ending the epidemic, rather than just slowing it down.  That means concentrating on finding sick people to treat, cure, and ensure they don't spread the virus, instead of cleaning up the aftermath.

The UN World Health Organization says only 99 new cases were reported last week – 65 in Sierra Leone, 30 in Guinea and four in Liberia.  Compare that to a month ago, when more than 500 cases were coming in every week just in Sierra Leone – which, along with Liberia and Guinea, make up the three main countries affected by the epidemic. 

The difference is the work of hundreds of doctors from Cuba, as well as Aussie, American, Chinese, and British troops coming in to build and maintain treatment centers.  But the damage is done:  History’s worst outbreak of the Ebola virus registered almost 9,000 deaths out of some 22,000 infections in a year, although experts believe the real toll could be far higher.