Ebola outbreak in Congo declared an international emergency

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo an international public health emergency. The disease has infected more than 2,500 people since the outbreak began in August and has killed more than 1,600. The declaration followed the first confirmed case of the disease this week in Goma, a city of about 2 million people on Congo’s border with Rwanda.

The outbreak is centered in the northeastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, also the epicenter of armed clashes and intercommunal unrest. The violence has affected the ability of health workers to respond to the outbreak.

On three previous occasions, a WHO expert committee declined to advise the agency to declare the outbreak a public emergency. Health workers and aid groups pushed for the declaration to allow for more funds and workers on the ground. The organization has implemented the Public Health Emergency of International Concern only four other times: the swine flu pandemic in 2009, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 that killed more than 11,000 people, the spread of polio in Asia and Africa in 2014, and the Zika outbreak in North and South America in 2015-2016.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is a high risk of Ebola spreading through the region surrounding Congo, but the risk outside the region remains low. He accepted recommendations that the declaration should not prompt travel or trade restrictions outside the region. “It is time for the world to take notice and redouble our efforts,” Ghebreyesus said.