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posted by janrinok on Thursday July 18 2019, @02:32PM   Printer-friendly

Ebola Outbreak Declared Global Health Emergency

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Ebola outbreak declared global health emergency

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo a "public health emergency of international concern". The move may encourage wealthy donor countries to provide more cash.

But the WHO stopped short of saying borders should be closed, saying the risk of the disease spreading outside the region was not high.

The outbreak in DR Congo has killed more than 1,600 people. This week, the first case was detected in Goma, home to more than a million. The PHEIC emergency provision is the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound and has only been used four times previously. This includes the Ebola epidemic that devastated parts of West Africa from 2014 to 2016, and killed more than 11,000 people.

"It is time for the world to take notice," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday at which the emergency was declared. He said he accepted recommendations there should be no restrictions on travel or trade, and no entry screening of passengers at ports or airports outside the immediate region.

"While it does not change the reality on the ground for victims or partners engaged in the response, we hope it will bring the international attention that this crisis deserves," it said in a statement.

WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak an International Emergency

From WHO declares Ebola outbreak an international emergency

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the nearly year-long Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The outbreak was declared on August 1, 2018 and has tallied 2,512 cases and 1,676 deaths. So far, it's centered in the DRC's North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which are on the eastern side of the country bordering South Sudan, Uganda, and Rwanda.

The declaration Wednesday follows the spread of Ebola to Goma, a DRC city of nearly 2 million people at the border with Rwanda that acts as hub of regional transportation. On Sunday, health workers there confirmed the city's first case in a 47-year-old pastor who had just arrived from Butembo, a DRC city that has struggled with the outbreak since last December.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies welcomed the move.

Previously: Measles is Killing More People in the DRC than Ebola-and Faster


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by deimtee on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:01PM (3 children)

    by deimtee (3272) on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:01PM (#868545) Journal

    The DRC land border is 10480 km (6512.5 miles) long. Be a hell of a job to fully close that.

    source: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-countries-border-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo.html [worldatlas.com]

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:40PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:40PM (#868562)

    The subject of the thread is not "Quarantine DRC" but "Quarantine Africa".

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Rivenaleem on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:56PM

    by Rivenaleem (3400) on Thursday July 18 2019, @04:56PM (#868579)

    We need to get our finest mind on the case. Paging @realDonaldTrump

  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 18 2019, @05:18PM (#868593)

    It shouldn't be that hard; just build a wall. I'm sure Mexico will pay for it.