WHO declares Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern

May 17(Jowhar)-WHO has declared that Ebola has erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda as a "public health emergency of international concern" after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths were reported.

In a statement posted on social media on Sunday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the outbreak does not meet the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern but that neighboring countries are at high risk for further spread.

Health officials have confirmed that the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus (BVD), a rare strain of Ebola for which there are no approved treatments or vaccines.

Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have occurred in DRC and Uganda, this is the third time the BVD strain has been reported.

WHO stated that the outbreak could be very large, given the high positivity rate of initial samples and the increasing number of reported suspected cases.

DRC accounts for all but two of the cases, both of which have been reported in neighboring Uganda, WHO said.

Officials first reported the virus outbreak in the eastern region of DRC in Ituri, near Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDCP) reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.

Then on Sunday, a laboratory confirmed a case in the major DRC city of Goma, which is controlled by the M23 militia backed by Rwanda, health officials told the AFP news agency.

The positive case in Goma was confirmed by tests conducted by the laboratory. It involves the wife of a man who died of Ebola in Bunia, who traveled to Goma after her husband's death while previously infected with the disease, Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, director of the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo (INRB), told AFP.