Ebola fighters named Time magazine 2014 ‘Person of the Year’

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Time magazine has declared the Ebola fighters as its “Person of the Year” for 2014.

The medical workers are being recognized for risking their own lives to help Ebola-ravaged communities in West Africa, and trying to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Hundreds of health workers have also been infected in this outbreak.

Ebola is transmitted through the bodily fluids of the sick and dead, and is sometimes called the “caretakers’ disease.”

In the current outbreak, Ebola infected more than 17,500 people, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. About 6,200 have died.

In an article on the Time website, Editor Nancy Gibbs praises Ebola fighters from around the world who worked side by side with local doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and burial teams.

She cites their “tireless acts of courage and mercy.” She says, “The rest of the world can sleep at night because a group of men and women are willing to stand and fight.”

Some of the runners-up included Taylor Swift, who has the top-selling album of 2014, and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In 2013, the magazine named Pope Francis as its “Person of the Year,” beating out NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

The news magazine has been handing out the distinction since 1927.

With files from The Associated Press

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