WHO to hold emergency committee meeting as Ebola death toll rises to 131

"The toll from the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba says. Previous figures from the epidemic, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared an international health emergency, were 91 people dead out of 350 suspected cases."

"Early on Sunday, I declared a public health emergency of international concern over an epidemic of Ebola disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Tuesday. A meeting of the WHO's Emergency Committee is scheduled for later on Tuesday to discuss the Ebola outbreak, Tedros said."

"No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the latest outbreak of the disease, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century. Kamba cautioned that the current death toll was an estimate and further research was needed to confirm whether all 131 suspected deaths were indeed caused by Ebola."

"The outbreak's epicentre is in the northeastern province of Ituri on the border with Uganda and South Sudan, whose status as a gold-mining hub leads to people regularly crisscrossing it. The virus has already spread into neighbouring provinces, as far as 200km (125 miles) away from what has been identified as the epidemic's ground zero a"

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has prompted a public health emergency of international concern. The estimated toll has increased to 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, up from earlier figures of 91 deaths out of 350 suspected cases. The WHO chief expressed deep concern about the scale and speed of spread, including movement into Uganda. A WHO Emergency Committee meeting is scheduled to provide technical advice and recommendations. No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain driving the outbreak. The health minister cautioned that the death toll is an estimate and requires further research to confirm Ebola causation. The outbreak is centered in Ituri near borders, with travel linked to gold mining and spread up to 200 km from the initial area.

Read at www.aljazeera.com