The World Bank is warning that the West Africa Ebola outbreak could seriously harm the economies  of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone unless action is taken quickly. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim spoke to reporters recently to discuss the effects of the Ebola spread. "Our findings show that if the virus  continues to spread, the economic cost to these countries could grow eight times by 2015. This would be a big _ to their already weak economies," said Kim. Mr. Kim says, "saving lives and preventing new spread" is most important. The bank has given $117-million for an "immediate help." The World Bank President says the SARS outbreak between 2002 and 2004 showed how a disease could damage economies. 800 people died from SARS and the economic losses were up to $40-billion. Mr. Kim says SARS and the H1N1 outbreak of 2009 taught that fear and avoidance resulted in about 90-percent of the economic losses. That means the disease is causing two levels of economic damage. "There are two kinds of contagion . One is connected with the virus itself and the second is connected with the spread of fear about the virus," said Kim. The World Bank thinks the losses to the economies of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be big .Mr. Kim says losses could be about $97-million at the moment. Mr. Kim says fast action is necessary. He says getting the disease under control is still far away. That is because there are not enough health care workers in the affected areas. The World Bank President says the most important measure is to act quickly in order to limit economic losses. What's the main idea of the whole passage?
Ebola is a serious and infectious illness. Large numbers of people have died from Ebola. People in the West Africa are in great fear of the spread of Ebola virus. Ebola will harm economies in the West Africa seriously without quick action.