WHO set to make call on global Ebola emergency
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is set to hold emergency meetings with authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo after the latest outbreak of the E bola virus threatened to spread to larger cities in the country.
At least 45 people are thought to have been infected in the epidemic and experts will now decide whether to declare a “global health emergency” in order to trigger a larger response from the international community.
The city of Mbandaka, which has one confirmed case so far, is just an hour’s flight from the capital, Kinshasa, and is located on the Congo River, a busy travel corridor.
The WHO says the risk to the public in DRC is “very high” and the regional risk “high”, particularly in neighbouring Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic.
It is the ninth Ebola outbreak in Congo since 1976, when the disease was first identified. The virus is initially transmitted to people from wild animals and is fatal in 90 per cent of cases.