WHO chief raises alarm over scale of Ebola outbreak after death toll climbs
A border health officer at the Busunga crossing between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo checks a traveler's temperature in Bundibugyo
By Billy Stockwell, CNN
(CNN) — The chief of the World Health Organization said Tuesday he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed” of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as local officials warn of a rising death toll.
The outbreak, driven by the Bundibugyo virus, one of several viruses known as Orthoebolaviruses that can cause Ebola disease, is mainly hitting the DRC’s remote northeastern Ituri province, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
In response to the growing epidemic, the US invoked a public health law on Monday to limit entry into the country from the affected region, just as one US national tested positive for the strain in the DRC. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) criticised the move, saying “broad travel bans can disrupt lives and economies.”
As of Tuesday, there have been 131 deaths linked to the outbreak, according to the DRC’s health minister, Dr. Samuel Roger Kamba, with more than 500 cases suspected.
Ghebreyesus said 30 cases have so far been confirmed in Ituri province. Meanwhile, in neighboring Uganda, two laboratory-confirmed cases have also been reported in the capital, Kampala, according to WHO.
On Sunday, the UN health body declared the epidemic a “public health emergency of international concern,” and said the high positivity rate and increasing number of cases and deaths point toward “a potentially much larger outbreak.”
Ghebreyesus said Tuesday this is the first time a director-general has declared an emergency of this kind before convening an emergency committee, which he said would be done later Tuesday. “I did not do this lightly,” he added.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease that is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, according to Africa CDC. It can also be spread through contact with contaminated materials or a person who has died from the disease. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines specific to the Bundibugyo virus.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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