There are roughly three reasons this outbreak became so big: different location (West vs. Central Africa), it took a while for the differential diagnosis (the much less deadly Lasa Fever is endemic in the area, but doesn't cause hiccups), and when the foreigners arrived in force, the locals hid. The WHO et. al. actually thought it was under control, before it couldn't be hid anymore.
Educated guesses would put actual fatalities in the 10s of thousands; 100s is possible, but I don't get the impression it's quite there yet. But with exponential growth, 1 case infecting an average of 3 others by one estimate, there's no way it isn't going to get that bad in West Africa.
tl;dr: Blood samples were taken in villages, laboratory confirmed, but none of these deaths were counted unless the patient actually made it to a treatment center. Much needs revision, which is not a priority right now.
There are roughly three reasons this outbreak became so big: different location (West vs. Central Africa), it took a while for the differential diagnosis (the much less deadly Lasa Fever is endemic in the area, but doesn't cause hiccups), and when the foreigners arrived in force, the locals hid. The WHO et. al. actually thought it was under control, before it couldn't be hid anymore.
Educated guesses would put actual fatalities in the 10s of thousands; 100s is possible, but I don't get the impression it's quite there yet. But with exponential growth, 1 case infecting an average of 3 others by one estimate, there's no way it isn't going to get that bad in West Africa.