The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda a “public health emergency of international concern”.
WHO said the outbreak does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency, but warned that the risk of further spread is higher in countries that share land borders with the DRC.
‘Very high fatality rate’
The epidemic caused by the Bundibugyo virus has killed dozens of people in the DRC, the UN health agency said in a statement.
DRC’s Ituri province had 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases as of Saturday.
“There is no vaccine, no specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain,” news agency AFP quoted DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba as saying. “This strain has a very high mortality rate, which can reach 50%.”
WHO said Uganda’s capital, Kampala, also recorded two laboratory-confirmed cases in people who had traveled from the DRC on Friday and Saturday, including one death.
What to know about Ebola?
Ebola, which is believed to have originated in bats, can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
The virus spreads from person to person through contact with bodily fluids or blood of an infected person.
This is the 17th Ebola outbreak to spread in the DRC.
The disease has killed about 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years.
Huge outbreak?
WHO said the outbreak is currently being detected and may be much larger than is being reported.
This pointed to the high positivity rate of initial samples and the increasing number of suspected cases being reported.
Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described the rapid spread of the outbreak as “extremely worrying”. The NGO said it was preparing a “large-scale response” to deal with the crisis.
The WHO said the outbreak also poses a health risk to other countries.
It called on nations to activate their national disaster and emergency-management mechanisms and conduct cross-border screening.
Also, the global health body urged countries not to close their borders or restrict travel and trade out of fear. It said such measures could be counterproductive and could lead to people and goods crossing informal borders, which are not monitored.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico