The UN World Health Organisation says the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda does not represent a global pandemic emergency, even though the risk is high at both the regional and national levels.

WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus gave the update to journalists on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly on Wednesday. Health ministers and diplomats are in Geneva for the 79th World Health Assembly.

In an update on the fast-developing situation in eastern DRC, he said that beyond the several dozen confirmed cases of infection, there were almost 600 suspected cases of  Ebola Bundibugyo virus and 139 suspected deaths.

Uganda reported two confirmed cases of Ebola in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, he added.

In the absence of any vaccine or therapeutics for the virus, which Mr Ghebreyesus stressed is extremely rare and was last detected in 2007, WHO teams are already working with community leaders in the epicentre province, Ituri, to help prevent wider transmission.

Decades of violence in mineral-rich eastern DR Congo have contributed to chronic vulnerability among the population, including healthcare workers caught up in ongoing insecurity.

Underscoring the “inherently challenging” task of detecting Ebola outbreaks in Ituri province, where April saw a new spike in civilian deaths, WHO’s regional director for Africa, Mohamed  Janabi, explained that effective disease surveillance depends on reliable community reporting, local health facilities being open and laboratory confirmation of infection.

Wednesday’s briefing followed a meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee ‌on Tuesday in Geneva, which confirmed that the Ebola outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern but not a pandemic emergency.

(NAN)