Gambiaj.com – (BERLIN, Germany) – The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not currently meet the criteria for a global pandemic emergency, despite growing concerns over the rapid spread of the virus.
The announcement was made on Wednesday after the WHO emergency committee met to assess the evolving situation in eastern DR Congo, where health authorities have already recorded hundreds of suspected infections and deaths.
“The current situation and the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern are met, and we agree that the current situation does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency,” committee president Lucille Blumberg told journalists in Geneva.
According to the WHO, 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 suspected deaths have been recorded so far. The organization warned that the figures are likely to rise because the virus had been circulating undetected for an extended period before the outbreak was officially identified.
WHO Rates Risk “High” in DR Congo and Region
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the epidemic risk has been classified as “high” at both the national and regional levels, while the global risk remains “low.”
“The WHO has assessed the epidemic risk as being high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” Tedros said during a press briefing in Geneva.
WHO technical expert on viral hemorrhagic fevers, Anaïs Legand, said the scale of the outbreak suggests the virus may have been spreading for several months before detection.
“Given the scale of the problem, we think it probably started a few months ago, but investigations are ongoing, and our priority is really to break the chain of transmission by implementing contact tracing, isolation, and management of all suspected and confirmed cases,” she said.
The EU Says Infection Risk Remains “Very Low”
The European Commission also sought to reassure Europeans, stating that the risk of Ebola infection in the European Union remains “very low.”
Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova said there was “no indication” that Europeans needed to take additional measures beyond standard public health recommendations.
“We know that diseases do not stop at borders, and this is also the case for Ebola,” she said, adding that the EU is preparing a humanitarian airlift to deliver medicines, protective gear, infection control equipment, and tents to affected areas.
American Ebola Patient Hospitalized in Berlin
Meanwhile, German authorities confirmed that an American national infected with Ebola in the DR Congo has been transferred to a specialized isolation unit at the Charité Hospital in Berlin.
The patient, identified by the American Christian NGO Serge as missionary doctor Peter Stafford, reportedly contracted the virus while treating patients at Nyankunde Hospital in eastern DR Congo.
German health officials said Stafford arrived in Berlin overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday following a request from the United States government.
Authorities declined to comment on his condition.
The German Ministry of Health also announced that Stafford’s wife, Rebekah Stafford, and their three children would also be admitted to the special isolation unit because they had been in the Democratic Republic of Congo with him.
The NGO added that Rebekah Stafford and another doctor, Patrick LaRochelle, had also treated Ebola patients but were currently asymptomatic.
With AFP
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