The Ebola outbreak is not an international public health emergency, according to the WHO: NPR



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The WHO says that the current Ebola outbreak is an emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the region, but not internationally. People arriving Friday from the DRC wash their hands with chlorinated water to prevent the spread of infection at the Mpondwe border post in western Uganda.

Ronald Kabuubi / AP


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Ronald Kabuubi / AP

The WHO says that the current Ebola outbreak is an emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the region, but not internationally. People arriving Friday from the DRC wash their hands with chlorinated water to prevent the spread of infection at the Mpondwe border post in western Uganda.

Ronald Kabuubi / AP

Updated at 5:30 pm ET

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo "does not meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern," the World Health Organization said Friday. The agency said that if the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo constituted a health emergency for that country and region, the risk of spreading beyond this region is low.

The WHO announced this decision a few days after the announcement of the first new Ebola cases in neighboring Uganda, where a 5-year-old boy died Wednesday of the disease after leaving the DRC. Two of his relatives – his grandmother and his 3-year-old brother – have been tested positive for the Ebola virus. On Thursday, the Ugandan Ministry of Health announced that the grandmother had also died.

"The group of Ebola cases in Uganda is not unexpected," said the WHO in announcing its decision. He added that the rapid intervention and containment plan put in place along the eastern border of the DRC with Uganda had worked well.

Uganda monitors dozens of people who have had family contacts whose members were the first patients in the country affected by the Ebola virus. On Thursday, the deceased boy's father and mother, his 3-year-old brother, a 6-month-old baby and their maid were sent back to the DRC. The Ugandan Ministry of Health has stated they voluntarily agreed to return – and five other family members in the DRC tested positive for the Ebola virus.

On Friday, Uganda's treatment unit had only one suspected case, according to Ugandan Minister of Health Jane Ruth Aceng. She added that the patient was isolated and waiting for the test results.

Preben Aavitsland, Acting Chairman of the Emergency Committee of the WHO International Health Regulations, said that "although the outbreak is an extraordinary event and that there is a risk of spreading We believe that the current response would not be strengthened "by official measures taken by an international organization. an emergency declaration would trigger.

Aavitsland made a number of recommendations, stating that the Emergency Committee strongly discouraged imposing restrictions on international trade or international travel. He also stated that he "does not consider that the filtering of entries at airports or other points of entry is necessary".

The current outbreak of Ebola started late last summer. On Wednesday, 2,014 cases and 1,317 deaths in the DRC region were confirmed by the disease, the WHO said.

On Friday, for the third time, the Emergency Committee reviewed the deadly outbreak and determined that it did not meet the WHO criteria for an international public health emergency. The committee "has largely debated" the issue, said Aavitsland.

As he discussed this decision, Aavitsland expressed what he had called his most important point: "The Committee is deeply disappointed that WHO and the affected countries have not received the funds and resources to facing this outbreak ".

S addressing the international community, he added, "increase funding".

As Officials Work to Limit Spread of Ebola, Ugandan Minister of Health urged everyone in his country, care should be taken not to wash hands, and "to AVOID shaking hands and any form of body contact while the country is facing this Ebola outbreak".

Aceng also said that she was discouraging anyone from organizing mass gatherings where the disease could spread.

NPR's Scott Neuman recently reported:

"Ebola is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids such as blood, saliva and vomit, initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches and chills, later symptoms may include bleeding. Vomiting, vomiting and blood spitting, people who contract the Ebola virus die as a result of the disease. "

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