The spread of Ebola is concentrated in the Congo, not a broader emergency: the WHO

An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has killed more than 700 people and continues to spread is not an international emergency, said Friday the World Health Organization (WHO).

Declaring the epidemic "public health emergency of international concern" would have shown that more resources and increased international coordination were needed.

The WHO's independent emergency committee, which badyzed the latest data, said the disease was present in several epicentres in the northeast and that it was being transmitted to health facilities in the north-east. health.

The WHO Independent Emergency Committee reported that the Ebola virus was present in several epicentres in the northeast and that it was transmitted to health care facilities. / Reuters Photo

The WHO Independent Emergency Committee reported that the Ebola virus was present in several epicentres in the northeast and that it was transmitted to health care facilities. / Reuters Photo

It has not crossed borders in Uganda, Rwanda or South Sudan, but neighboring countries need to be better prepared, experts said.

"We almost all voted against the fact that this would not constitute a PHEIC (public health emergency of international concern), because we are rather optimistic about the fact that this epidemic can be controlled – not immediately, but in a predictable time" , chaired the professor, chairman of the panel. Robert Steffen said at a press conference.

Dozens of new cases reported this week mainly concern epicenters from Butembe, Katwe and Vuhovi, said Mike Ryan, WHO's program manager for health emergencies.

"It's a fairly targeted amplification of the disease in a very specific geographical area," Ryan said.

"But the disease there has increased due to lack of access to this community, we have fallen behind in launching the vaccination networks," he said, referring to the attacks launched in February by armed groups against health centers.

"The vaccine is proving to be a very effective way to stop this virus, but if we can not vaccinate people, we can not protect them," he added, noting that nearly 100,000 people have been vaccinated.

Experts have declared four emergencies over the last decade: the H1N1 virus that caused an influenza pandemic (2009), a major Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2014), polio ( 2014) and the Zika virus (2016).

Some experts expressed concern that the Emergency Committee may be too restrictive in interpreting WHO guidelines.

"This is a very worrying event, because of the pathogen itself, the total number of cases, the increase in the number of cases this week and the difficulty of coordinating the response due to a conflict. – who should receive the appropriate level of attention, "Health experts Rebecca Katz and Alexandra Phelan of Georgetown University in Washington said in a statement.

The Ebola outbreak – by far the largest in Congo and the second most important in history – was declared by national authorities in August. It is concentrated in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, Congo.

It has already infected at least 1,206 people, 764 of whom died, a mortality rate of 63%.

They include 20 new cases reported Thursday by the Ministry of Health, another record after 18 days on Wednesday. Two workers at Butembo airport tested positive.