WHO raises Ebola alert level in Congo to “very high”

On May 22, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the public health risk level for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo from “high” to “very high,” amid a continued rapid increase in suspected cases and deaths, raising concerns about the potential for the disease to spread throughout Central Africa.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned he was “extremely concerned about the scale and speed” of the current Ebola outbreak. Photo: AFP

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the risk level is currently assessed as “very high” at the national level, “high” at the regional level, and “low” globally.

“The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading rapidly,” Tedros said. “We are now adjusting our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level.”

According to the WHO, the Democratic Republic of Congo has so far confirmed 82 cases of Ebola, including 7 deaths. However, the agency warns that the actual scale of the outbreak could be much larger.

"But we know the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is much larger. There are now nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 deaths suspected to be related to Ebola," Tedros added.

This outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain – a variant of Ebola for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment. The WHO declared an international health emergency for this virus strain on May 17.

The WHO also stated that violence and insecurity in many areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo are significantly undermining the effectiveness of the pandemic response.

Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO's Director of Emergency Health Alerts and Response, stated: "The potential for this virus to spread rapidly is very high, extremely high, and that has completely changed the landscape."

Meanwhile, the situation in Uganda is currently considered relatively stable. The WHO has confirmed two cases of Ebola in Uganda linked to people who traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of whom has died.

According to Tedros, the measures Uganda implemented, including large-scale contact tracing and the cancellation of a large gathering, "appear to have been effective in halting the spread of the virus."

A health worker takes the temperature of a woman in Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: Reuters.

The WHO also confirmed that a US citizen working in Congo had tested positive for Ebola and had been transferred to Germany for treatment.

"We also received information about another U.S. citizen who had high-risk exposure and has been transferred to the Czech Republic," Tedros said.

In addition to traditional disease control measures, the WHO is considering the possibility of using the experimental antiviral drug Obedesivir to prevent the disease from developing in people exposed to the Ebola virus.

Sylvie Briand, head of the WHO's science team, said that Obeldesivir is an oral antiviral drug for Covid-19 being developed by Gilead Sciences.

"This is a very promising drug, but its deployment still has to follow a very, very strict process," Briand emphasized.

Overall, given that there is currently no vaccine or specific treatment for the Bundibugyo strain, the WHO believes that containing outbreaks, contact tracing, and enhanced health surveillance remain key tools to prevent the spread of Ebola. While the global risk level is currently assessed as low, the continued rapid increase in suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo indicates growing pressure on the country's healthcare system and the international community's response efforts.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/who-nang-muc-canh-bao-ebola-tai-congo-len-rat-cao-10417907.html