GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization
said Monday its experts will meet this week to determine whether an Ebola
outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo constitutes a global health
emergency.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has convened "an
emergency committee" on the current outbreak in DRC's violence-torn North
Kivu region, which has killed 135 people since August, the UN health agency
said in a statement.
"The committee will meet on October 17 in Geneva to
ascertain whether the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of
international concern," the statement said.
In the WHO's parlance, "a public health emergency of
international concern" is an "extraordinary event" in which a
disease may spread across borders and requires a vigorous international
response.
The agency first invoked the emergency mechanism in 2009
when a new strain of influenza, so-called H1N1 swine flu, emerged.
It was also declared twice in 2014, when polio re-emerged
after the disease was nearly eradicated, and after an Ebola epidemic struck
three West African countries.
Then in 2016, a global emergency was declared in response to
an outbreak of the Zika virus.
Monday's announcement came after DRC Health Minister Oly
Ilunga warned over the weekend that a second wave of the Ebola virus had been
confirmed in the outbreak in North Kivu, which is home to a clutch of armed
groups.
He said the second wave occurred as a result of community
resistance to measures taken to tackle the disease, describing the outbreak as
"high risk."
"The situation is worrying," he said.
Fears and misconceptions about the virus have led to
widespread mistrust and resistance to Ebola response workers, including those
who come into communities wearing hazmat suits to orchestrate burials.
A staff member of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO was
among the latest victims of the virus, the UN and DRC health ministry said.
The latest outbreak — the 10th in DR Congo since Ebola was
first detected there in 1976 — so far counts 211 confirmed and probable cases
of the virus, including 135 deaths.
- Internet
Pray now, not later. The Lord needs to get angels out early
and so like anything else it is appreciated when we pray early, like now. Good
things happen in this world because people of faith pray. Pray that people there will repent and ask the Lord to help them.The fundamental
structures of this Ebola will be struck and the hidden underpinnings of it's
spread will be struck. Don't be afraid to pray with specifics if you have the
understanding. Pray over these things in secret. Pray as you are led.
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