The World Health Organization has declared an Ebola outbreak affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.
The WHO said the outbreak, caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, but warned that countries sharing land borders with the DRC face a high risk of further spread, reports RTE.
The UN health agency said in a statement that 80 suspected deaths, eight laboratory-confirmed cases and 246 suspected cases had been reported.
The DRC health ministry had said on Friday that 80 people had died in the new outbreak in the country’s eastern province, reports RTE.
There could potentially be a far larger outbreak than what is currently being detected and reported, the WHO said, given the high positivity rate of the initial samples and the growing number of suspected cases being identified.
The outbreak is described as “extraordinary” because there are no approved Bundibugyo-specific treatments or vaccines, unlike those available for the more common Ebola-Zaire strains, reports RTE.
The DRC-Uganda outbreak poses a public health risk to other countries, with some cases of international spread already documented, the agency said.
The WHO advised countries to activate their national disaster and emergency management mechanisms and to undertake cross-border screening and screening at main internal road crossings, reports RTE.
In Uganda’s capital Kampala, two apparently unrelated laboratory-confirmed cases — including one death — were reported among people who had travelled from the DRC, the WHO said.
A laboratory-confirmed case was also reported in the DRC capital Kinshasa, in a person returning from Ituri province, reports RTE.
Bundibugyo virus contacts or confirmed cases should not travel internationally, unless as part of a medical evacuation, the WHO said.
The agency recommended the immediate isolation of confirmed cases, daily monitoring of contacts, and restricted national travel, with no international travel permitted until 21 days after the last known exposure, reports RTE.
At the same time, the WHO cautioned countries against closing borders or restricting trade out of fear, warning that doing so could push people and goods toward informal crossings that are not monitored, reports RTE.
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