Washington, Dhu-AlQa'dah 3, 1435, Aug 29, 2014, SPA -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Thursday said that the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa will likely lead to "sharply" lower economic growth in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, raising financial assistance to those countries. "The Ebola outbreak is having an acute macroeconomic and social impact on three already fragile countries in West Africa," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters. The viral disease has killed 1,500 people since it was detected in March and spread from Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and recently Nigeria. --SPA 11:54 LOCAL TIME 08:54 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w