The World Health Organization (WHO) chief said on May 19 that he was “deeply concerned” by an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which has spilt into Uganda, believed to have killed 131 people.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on May 17 declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), 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 later yesterday “to advise us on temporary recommendations.”
The DRC’s health minister said the suspected toll from the outbreak declared late last week had risen to 131 deaths and 513 cases. 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 U.S. citizen confirmed positive and transferred to Germany, as reported by the U.S.”
The total number of confirmed and suspected cases “will change as field operations are scaling up,” Tedros stressed.
There were a number of reasons to worry, he said.
He pointed out that cases had been reported in urban areas, including Kampala, as well as the Congolese city of Goma, and also that there was “significant population movement in the area.”
“The province of Ituri is highly insecure,” he said, pointing out that intensifying conflict in recent months had seen more than 100,000 people newly displaced in the region.
Tedros highlighted that the epidemic had been shown to be caused by the Bundibugyo strain, “a species of Ebola virus, for which there are no vaccines or therapeutics.”
