Sierra Leone: Ebola lockdown was a success, revealed more cases

Under the plan, no one was allowed to leave their homes for three days, from September 19 to 21, allowing volunteers to go door-to-door educating people on the deadly virus.

More than 75% of the targeted 1.5 million households were contacted, according to the Health Ministry.

The strategy provided authorities with a "candid assessment of the situation, household by household," said a statement from President Ernest Bai Koroma's office Wednesday.

"The true picture portrays a situation that is worse than what was being reflected in reports and reveals that there are more infected persons in the community," it said.

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Hot spots isolated

Three districts have been identified as emerging hot spots, the government said: Port Loko, Bombali and Moyamba.

Given the "desperate need to step up the response," these will be isolated immediately, it said.

"The prognosis is that without additional interventions or changes in community behavior, the numbers will increase exponentially and the situation will rapidly deteriorate."

The country's Kenema and Kailahun districts, which have been epicenters for Ebola in Sierra Leone, remain isolated.

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Deaths rising

The total number of probable, confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola was 6,263, with 2,917 deaths, as of September 21, the World Health Organization said in its latest update released Wednesday.

Sierra Leone accounts for 1,940 of those cases and 597 deaths. However, cases and deaths uncovered during the three-day lockdown have not yet been included in the official figures, the WHO said.

The other countries at the center of the outbreak are Guinea and Liberia, with a small number of cases reported in Nigeria and one in Senegal.

The number of Ebola cases in Liberia and Sierra Leone could rise to between 550,000 and 1.4 million by January if there are no "additional interventions or changes in community behavior," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Tuesday.

Complete coverage of the Ebola outbreak

The range of estimated cases is wide because experts suspect the current count is highly under-reported. The estimate was derived from a new forecasting tool developed by the CDC.

But the CDC estimates that if 70% of people with Ebola are properly cared for in medical facilities, the epidemic could decrease and eventually end.

The virus is spread through contact with bodily fluids, and early symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat.