Report: CDC considers 550K Ebola cases a worst-case scenario

The U.S. government is preparing to announce new Ebola projections that include a worst-case scenario of 550,000 cases by January, according to a report.

The estimates are currently in development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and would help provide a baseline to measure the effectiveness of the ramped-up American response to the outbreak, The Hill reported.

The figures set to be released next week assume no additional intervention in West Africa, according to Bloomberg, which broke the news. Hundreds of thousands more people could contract the virus under that scenario, the numbers show.