World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that he is “deeply concerned about the scope and speed” of the Ebola epidemic affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The statement was made on the second day of the WHO’s annual assembly of member states in Geneva.
“We will convene the emergency committee today to advise us on temporary recommendations,” Tedros said. On Sunday, the WHO had already declared an international health emergency to contain the outbreak, which causes a highly contagious hemorrhagic fever. Over the past 50 years, the virus has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa.
DRC Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba reported early Tuesday that the country has 131 deaths and 513 suspected cases. “All the deaths we report are those we detect in the community, not necessarily linked to Ebola,” Kamba clarified on national television. The number represents an increase from the previous tally, which indicated 91 deaths and 350 suspected cases. Few samples have been analyzed in the laboratory so far, and the data are based mainly on suspected cases.
The epicenter of the outbreak is in Ituri province, northeastern DRC, bordering Uganda and South Sudan. The region, rich in gold, experiences intense population movements due to mining activity, which facilitates the spread of the virus. The WHO confirmed that Ebola has already crossed the DRC’s borders, with two deaths reported in Uganda — people who had traveled from the neighboring country, with no local epidemic focus.
The African Union’s health agency (Africa CDC) also declared a continental “public health emergency.” According to the agency, the measure will allow “strengthening regional coordination, facilitating the rapid mobilization of financial and technical resources, and consolidating surveillance and laboratory systems.”
There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the strain responsible for the current outbreak, which increases concern among health authorities.