The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern.
The agency said the outbreak in DR Congo’s eastern Ituri province, which has seen around 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths reported, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency.
But it warned it could potentially be “a much larger outbreak” than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant risk of local and regional spread.
The current strain of Ebola is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, the health agency said, for which there are no approved drugs or vaccines.
Early symptoms include fever, muscle pain, fatigue, headache and sore throat, and are followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, a rash and bleeding.
The WHO said there were now eight laboratory-confirmed cases of the virus, with other suspected cases and deaths across three health zones including Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, and the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara.
One case of the virus has been confirmed in the capital Kinshasa, believed to be in a patient returning from Ituri.
The WHO said that the virus had spread beyond DR Congo, with two confirmed cases reported in neighbouring Uganda. Ugandan officials said a 59-year-old man who died on Thursday had tested positive.
In a statement, the Ugandan government said the patient who died was a Congolese citizen whose body had already been returned to DR Congo.
A laboratory has also confirmed an Ebola case in the eastern city of Goma, currently controlled by the M23 rebels, the AFP news agency reported on Sunday.
At least six Americans have been exposed to Ebola in DR Congo, and one has displayed symptoms but none have been confirmed to have been infected, the BBC’s US partner CBS reports, citing sources.
The US government was reportedly trying to transport them out of the country, possibly to a military base in Germany, STAT News reports.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it planned to send more staff to DR Congo and Uganda, while the US Embassy in DR Congo issued a health alert reminding citizens not to travel to Ituri province.
The WHO advised that DR Congo and Uganda establish emergency operation centers to monitor, trace, and implement infection-prevention measures.
The WHO added that countries outside the affected region should not close their borders or restrict travel and trade as “such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science”.
WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned there are currently “significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread” of the outbreak.-BBC
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