WHO declares Ebola outbreak 'emergency of international concern' as they issue severe warning
The World Health Organisation has declared an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to be a public health emergency of international concern.
There have been over 300 suspected cases of the highly contagious infection, and tragically 88 people have been confirmed to have died.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus posted a statement on social media, clarifying that although it is a public health emergency it does not meet the requirements for a world pandemic like Covid-19.
In the statement, Ghebreyesus advised against the closing of borders.
Advert
Ebola is extremely contagious, and can be spread through bodily fluid like blood, semen, or vomit, and while the disease it causes is rare it has a high mortality rate.
One case has also been confirmed in laboratory testing in DRC capital Kinshasa, around 620 miles from the centre of the outbreak in eastern area Ituri.
The WHO confirmed that the patient in this case had visited Ituri, and said that there have also been suspected cases the province North Kivu, which borders Ituri and is one of the most populated areas of the DRC.
Dr Tedros said: “There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases."
Dr Jean Kaseya is the director-general of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and said on May 16 that there are still a large number of active cases in the community.
Dr Kaseya explained that this is 'significantly complicating containment and contact tracing efforts'.
There are a number of factors which are making this more difficult, including the constant movement of the population to follow work in mining.
Further complicating the situation is the presence of militant groups in the area, including Islamist group the Allied Democratic Forces, which operate over the border with Uganda.
Dr Kaseya said: “This outbreak started in April. So far, we don’t know the index case. It means we don’t know how far is the magnitude of this outbreak."
An index case is the first detectable case in the outbreak of a disease, and is important for tracking where the disease might have spread to and how.
The WHO has also said that it is seeing clusters of deaths in Ituri, as well as a high percentage of positive cases in samples it is testing, and a spread to Uganda including the capital Kampala.
In a statement, the organisation said these factors 'all point towards a potentially much larger outbreak than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant local and regional risk of spread.'
Topics: World News, Health, News
Kit Roberts