WHO says Ebola risk high in DRC and region, low globally

Geneva — The World Health Organization said Wednesday that the risk from the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak remains high at the national and regional levels but low worldwide.

WHO experts said investigations into the outbreak's origins are continuing. Given the scale of the situation in eastern DRC, they believe the outbreak likely began a couple of months ago.

The agency's emergency committee concluded that the situation does not meet the threshold for a pandemic emergency.

"WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels, and low at the global level," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in the DRC's eastern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu. Tedros said the true scale of the epidemic is much larger.

Uganda has reported two confirmed cases in the capital Kampala, including one death. A U.S. national working in the DRC tested positive and was transferred to Germany for treatment. American doctor Peter Stafford, who lived in the DRC with his family, was evacuated to Germany and is receiving care, the missionary group Serge said Tuesday.

"There are several factors that warrant serious concern about the potential for further spread and further deaths," Tedros said.

"Beyond the confirmed cases, there are almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths," he said. "We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected."

On Sunday, Tedros declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern, the second-highest level of alarm under the International Health Regulations. The declaration triggered emergency responses in countries worldwide.

The WHO emergency committee met on Tuesday to assess the outbreak. Committee chair Lucille Blumberg said the current situation meets the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern but does not satisfy the criteria for a pandemic emergency.

Anais Legand, a WHO technical officer on viral hemorrhagic fevers, said investigators are working to determine how long Ebola has been spreading in eastern DRC.

"Given the scale, we are thinking that it has started probably a couple of months ago, but investigations are ongoing and our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspect and confirmed cases," she said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the WHO was "a little late" in identifying the deadly outbreak.

President Trump, early in his return to office last year, began the process of withdrawing the United States from the WHO over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health officials warned at the time that the move could affect efforts to combat outbreaks in lower-income countries.

Asked about Rubio's criticism, Tedros said it might stem from a lack of understanding of how the International Health Regulations work and the responsibilities of WHO and other entities. He said the agency supports countries rather than replacing them in outbreak responses.