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130 people have died following a deadly outbreak of Ebola in Central Africa.
There at the moment are greater than 500 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo strain, which was declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The virus is spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, and has no vaccine.
In a WHO statement by director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, he confirmed he declared the health emergency before convening an emergency committee for the primary time.
He said: ‘I didn’t do that flippantly.
‘I’m deeply concerned concerning the scale and speed of the epidemic.’
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He added: ‘There are several aspects that make us concerned concerning the potential for further spread and further deaths.
‘First, beyond the confirmed cases, there are greater than 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths.
‘These numbers will change as field operations are scaling up, including strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and laboratory testing.
‘Second, cases have been reported in urban areas, including Kampala, and town of Goma in DRC.
‘Third, deaths have been reported amongst medical examiners, indicating healthcare-associated transmission.
‘Fourth, there is critical population movement in the realm.’
Yesterday, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) launched an emergency response to the outbreak.
Health officials say the variety of cases are expected to rise. An American doctor in DRC is among the many newly confirmed cases of the virus.
The US has banned anyone who has been within the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last three weeks.
In keeping with the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control, the likelihood of infection for people in Europe is taken into account very low.
It’s understood the spread of the virus lay undetected for weeks.
Matthew M Kavanagh, direct of the Georgetown University Centre for Global Health Policy and Politics said: ‘Because early tests searched for the flawed strain of Ebola, we got false negatives and lost weeks of response time.
‘We’re playing catch-up against a really dangerous pathogen’.
The Bundibugyo strain is spread through close contact with sick or dead patients’ bodily fluids, reminiscent of sweat, blood, faeces or vomit.
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