The World Health Organisation has released a 17-page manual detailing how to safely bury people who have died from Ebola.

The UN agency said the guidelines are part of an effort to reduce the likelihood of people contracting Ebola from corpses.

WHO Ebola expert Pierre Formenty says at least one in five infections occurs during burials.

The guidelines give step-by-step advice to health workers for Christian and Muslim burials.

WHO cites guidance from a Muslim chaplain that the ritual washing of the body is not needed when someone dies from Ebola.

The manual also recommends that items handled by the patient, particularly any mattress they might have used, should be burned.

There have been more than 4,800 deaths from Ebola since December.

The manual is at: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/ebola/safe-burial-protocol/en/

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