WHO declares Congo Ebola outbreak a global health emergency


FE Team | Published: July 18, 2019 10:44:22 | Updated: July 27, 2019 16:01:00


A health worker sprays a colleague with disinfectant during a training session for Congolese health workers to deal with Ebola virus in Kinshasa — Reuters/Files

The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo to be a “public health emergency of international concern”, saying the recent risk of its spread in the city of Goma and into Uganda had increased the threat.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had accepted the recommendations of a committee of international experts which stressed there should be no restrictions on travel or trade, and no entry screening of passengers at ports or airports outside the immediate region, reports Reuters.

A fishmonger vomited at Mpondwe market in Uganda on July 11 before dying of Ebola in Congo, an incident that could spread the disease in Uganda, the World Health Organization reported on Wednesday.

WHO said in a report that about 590 fishmongers at the market could be targeted for vaccination, and it had yet to establish the woman’s movements or who had transported her or her goods.

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