WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern – the second-highest level of alert under international health regulations.
“I did not do this lightly… I’m deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,” he told the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
He added that he would convene the agency’s emergency committee on Tuesday “to advise us on temporary recommendations”.
The outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever was confirmed on Friday in Ituri province in northeastern DRC, bordering Uganda and South Sudan, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is the 17th outbreak of Ebola to hit the DRC and officials have warned of a high risk of spread.
The latest figures from the DRC’s health minister showed the suspected toll had risen to 131 deaths and 513 cases.
But with the outbreak largely concentrated in difficult-to-access areas, few samples have been laboratory-tested.
Tedros said that so far, 30 cases had been confirmed to be Ebola in the DRC’s northeastern Ituri province.
“Uganda has also informed WHO of two confirmed cases in the capital of Kampala, including one death among two individuals who travelled from DRC,” he told the WHO’s annual meeting of its decision-taking body.
In addition, he said, there was “one US citizen confirmed positive and transferred to Germany, as reported by the US”.
The total number of confirmed and suspected cases “will change as field operations are scaling up, including strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and laboratory testing”, Tedros stressed.
There were a number of reasons to worry, he said, pointing out that cases had been reported in urban areas, including Kampala, as well as the large Congolese city of Goma, currently held by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia. (AFP)
