GENEVA: The public health risk from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been upgraded from high to very high, the World Health Organization said on Friday (May 22).
The risk level remains high at the regional level and low worldwide, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
He said there were now nearly 750 suspected cases in the DR Congo and 177 suspected deaths.
The Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the WHO on Sunday.
“The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly,” Tedros said.
“We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.
“So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DRC, with seven confirmed deaths.
“But we know the epidemic in DRC is much larger. There are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.
“The situation in Uganda is stable, with two cases confirmed in people who travelled from DRC, with one death.”
Tedros said that violence and insecurity were impeding the response to the outbreak.
“The potential of this virus spreading rapidly is high, very high, and that changed the whole dynamic,” said Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO Director of Health Emergency Alert and Response Operations.
Measures taken in Uganda, including intense contact tracing and cancellation of a mass gathering, appear to have been effective in stemming the spread of the virus, Tedros said.
A US national who was working in Congo has been confirmed positive and transferred to Germany for care.
“We are also aware of reports today about another American national with a high-risk contact who has been transferred to the Czech Republic,” Tedros added.
The WHO’s chief scientist, Sylvie Briand, said an antiviral treatment called Obeldesivir could be used among Ebola contacts to prevent them from developing the disease.
Obeldesivir is an experimental oral COVID antiviral drug from Gilead Sciences.
“This is a promising treatment drug, but it has still to be implemented under a very, very strict protocol,” Briand said.
