EBOLA OUTBREAK

The WHO says an Ebola outbreak in Congo isn’t an international health emergency.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not constitute a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization said Friday.

WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern as “an extraordinary event” that constitutes a “public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease” and “to potentially require a coordinated international response.”

In announcing the decision by the committee, Dr. Preben Aavitsland, the acting chair of the emergency committee, said “possible unintended consequences” and risks of an emergency declaration had been “extensively debated” by the committee members. Possible risks include border closures and restrictions on travel and trade that could “severely harm the economy” in Congo, he said. “This is not a global emergency. This is an emergency for [Congo] and it may affect neighboring countries.”

Ultimately, the committee decided there was “potentially a lot to lose” by declaring a public health emergency, said Dr. Aavitsland, who emphasized that funding is needed to continue efforts to contain the outbreak.

The international community must “step up funding and strengthen support” for preparedness in Congo and neighboring countries, he said.

The outbreak is the second largest and second deadliest on record with 2,108 total cases and 1,411 total deaths as of Thursday, according to Congo’s Ministry of Health. The totals include confirmed cases and deaths that occurred earlier this week in Uganda. A 2014 outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, according to WHO.

The epicenter of the outbreak is North Kivu and Ituri provinces, among the most populous in the nation and bordering Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, according to WHO.

Health officials announced this week that the outbreak crossed the border from Congo to neighboring Uganda.

Unlike the West African outbreak, bursts of violence, burning of Ebola treatment centers and abductions of health workers have plagued the response effort. As of May 21, there have been 131 attacks on health care personnel in Ebola-affected areas, according to WHO.

Ronald Kabuubi/Associated PRess People coming from Congo on Friday have their temperature measured to screen for symptoms of Ebola, at the Mpondwe border crossing with Congo, in western Uganda. In Uganda, health workers had long prepared in case the Ebola virus got past the screening conducted at border posts with Congo. It did earlier this week, when a family exposed to Ebola while visiting Congo returned home on an unguarded footpath.