Ebola outbreak in Africa is 'public health emergency of international concern,' WHO says
It is the DRC's 17th outbreak of Ebola since the disease emerged in the 1970s.
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern," the World Health Organization said in a statement Saturday.
As of Saturday, there have been eight laboratory-confirmed cases, 246 suspected cases and 80 suspected deaths reported in the Ituri province of the DRC in Central Africa, according to the WHO.
In addition, there have been two laboratory confirmed cases, including one death, with no apparent link to each other reported in neighboring Uganda, among two people who traveled from the DRC, the WHO said.
"There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time," the WHO said in the statement. "In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases."
It is the DRC's 17th outbreak of Ebola since the disease emerged in the 1970s, according to the WHO.
This strain of Ebola is caused by Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no therapeutics or vaccines, the WHO said.
The global health organization has declared international public health emergencies over previous Ebola outbreaks as well as COVID-19 and mpox.
In a social media post on Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said officials there are "closely monitoring" the reports of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and working with the country's Ministry of Health to support response efforts.
The risk to the American public is considered low, the CDC said on Friday.
"CDC has extensive experience and expertise in responding to Ebola outbreaks," CDC acting Director Jay Bhattacharya said on a call with reporters on Friday. "It is a large outbreak, and we were just informed yesterday about it."
He added: "We're absolutely committed to making sure that they can get resources as they need. We have helped with other Ebola outbreaks in the past ... We have lots of hard-earned lessons. The key thing here is to know that we are absolutely involved."
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