Special Ebola beds helped save lives

The introduction of thousands of Ebola treatment beds prevented an estimated 57,000 Ebola cases and 40,000 deaths in Sierra Leone, a new study has found.

"Our findings show the unprecedented local and international response led to a substantial decline in Ebola transmission," lead author Adam Kucharski of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said in a statement.

"Given the rapid growth of the outbreak in Sierra Leone, if those beds hadn't been in place to isolate the ill and avert further infections, the epidemic could have been much worse."