WHO Responds To Ebola Spread

The director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has travelled to Uganda following the spread of Ebola to the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week.

During his visit he has been focused on assessing the readiness of local teams to tackle the outbreak, which has resulted in three fatalities. In neighbouring DRC more than 2,000 cases have been recorded since August 2018, with almost 1,400 fatalities resulting. According to the authorities in Uganda 96 suspected cases are receiving vaccination.

An emergency WHO meeting on Friday determined that the outbreak does not yet represent an international emergency. The experts of the WHO’s Emergency Committee have however warned neighbouring countries to step up preparations for detecting and managing imported cases.

Commenting of the situation chair of the panel Dr. Preben Aavitsland told media, “This is not a global emergency, it is an emergency in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a severe emergency and it may affect neighbouring counties.”

Meanwhile the government in Tanzania has warned members of the public to be on alert. Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu stated, "The Ebola outbreak in Uganda increases chances of the disease crossing to Tanzania, thus the government through the Ministry of Health warns members of the public of this deadly disease."

"There is no reported case of Ebola in the country, but since the disease has crossed to Uganda and due to cross-border interactions with the neighbouring Uganda, there are high chances of contracting the viral disease," she added.