A World Health Organization panel found that the latest outbreak of Ebola in Congo does not meet the conditions for a public health emergency declaration yet.
Members of the WHO’s emergency committee met on Friday to discuss the declaration, which brings with it more funding.
The WHO did issue an emergency declaration for the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, but the international body was criticized back then for dragging its feet on the declaration. The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people.
The WHO panel did find several characteristics of the Congo outbreak that were concerning, chief among them the risk of “more rapid spread given that Ebola has now spread to an urban area; that there are several outbreaks in remote and hard to reach areas; that healthcare staff have been infected, which may be a risk for further amplification.”
But the committee said the response from Congo and WHO has been rapid and comprehensive. It said that work underway now provide a “strong reason to believe that the outbreak can be brought under control.” The panel may meet again if there is international spread of the virus or if the outbreak expands significantly.
So far 23 people have died and 44 Ebola cases have been reported in Congo. Health officials are sending shipments of an experimental Ebola vaccine to the country.
