The orphans of Ebola

Orphans who survived Ebola in Sierra Leone are starving to death amid harvest shortages and some are being forced into the sex industry to pay for food. Researchers from British charity Street Child warn the situation will deteriorate if seeds are not distributed before the rains begin this month and planting becomes possible.

The charity, which has already received distressing reports of children dying due to a lack of food in rural parts on the country, has estimated there to be 12,000 orphans, many of whom are now forced to look after themselves. The charity has found that some children, rejected by their friends because of the stigma of Ebola, have tried to commit suicide, while girls are being forced into the sex industry to earn money to buy food.

Research team leader John Pryor said: 'Many rural communities which were under quarantine due to Ebola have lost their harvests and the people are truly suffering. 'As a result they have nothing to plant prior to the rainy season, which is traditionally known as the hunger season. 'The most vulnerable, including many Ebola orphans, are dangerously hungry already, before it has even begun. Add to this the risk of no harvest to look forward to and the potential consequences are awful.' Without a harvest, the most vulnerable will starve.

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One Powerful Illustration Shows Exactly What's Wrong With How the West Talks About Ebola

The Ebola epidemic has killed 3,431 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia; it has killed one in the United States. Liberia's Defense Minister Brownie Samukai told the U.N. Security Council in September that the disease poses a "serious threat" to the country's existence; the Obama administration recently reminded everybody that "[America's] structure would preclude an outbreak." Health care workers are threatening to strike over dissatisfaction with wages; the U.S. sent 3,000 military personnel directly into the area to help combat the epidemic.

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Gut-Wrenching Images Show The Brutal Reality Of The Ebola Outbreak In Liberia

Grim news emerged in the battle against Ebola on Friday as the World Health Organization announced that more than 4,000 people have died from the disease since the outbreak began. Most cases were recorded in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The U.N. special envoy for Ebola, David Nabarro, explained the number of cases is probably doubling every three-to-four weeks and warned that it will be impossible to quickly combat the disease without mass mobilization of international support.

Photographers John Moore and Mohammed Elshamy have been working on the front lines of the fight against the disease, documenting its brutal effects on patients and their loved ones in West Africa. Their gut-wrenching pictures from the Liberian capital Monrovia reveal the devastating impact of the disease.

A woman throws a handful of soil towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take her Mekie Nagbe, 28, for cremation on October 10, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Nagbe, a market vendor, collapsed and died outside her home earlier in the morning while leaving to walk to a treatment center, according to her relatives. The burial of loved ones is important in Liberian culture, making the removal of infected bodies for cremation all the more traumatic for surviving family members. (John Moore/Getty Images)

More pictures at The World Post