The devastation of the Ebola virus throughout western Africa is evidenced by the high number of bodies buried at King Tom cemetery in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

An average of 175 people are buried there on a daily basis, and 156 children were buried in the cemetery in the first five days of January. 

Thousands have died across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began last year, but the spike in infant and child deaths is particularly disturbing. 

"The number of children we are burying every week is absolutely staggering," said aid worker Ms. McLysaght, according to the Times Gazette.

"It is an appalling situation, although we believe they are mainly non-Ebola cases that are related to the secondary health-care crisis."

Residents said they have not seen such a death toll since the country's civil wars. 

The dead are wrapped in plastic body bags and buried by workers wearing biohazard suits. Names of the deceased are written on pieces of wood, and stuck into the ground. The Times Gazette reported that the cemetery is the size of a football field, and a bulldozer is clearing the way for more corpses.

It is unclear how many of the 4,400 buried in King Tom died of Ebola, as the country lacks the resources to test each of the deceased. 

One cemetery worker, Andrew Kondoh, said he is "comfortable around dead bodies" after burying corpses during the civil wars. 

"I hoped never to see dead bodies like this in Sierra Leone again, but at least this time you don't see their faces, as they come already sealed in the plastic bags," he said. 

Sierra Leone recently overtook Liberia as the country with the highest number of reported Ebola cases with 7,897 infections since the outbreak began early this year.

However, Liberia reported 3,177 deaths from the virus, while Sierra Leone reported just 1,768.

Sierra Leone Health Minister Abu Bakarr Fofanah said that only laboratory-confirmed deaths are being recorded.