Amman, May 19 (Petra) — Director-General of the World Health
Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Tuesday expressed
his “deep concern” regarding the scale and speed of the Ebola
outbreak sweeping the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which
has caused 131 deaths.

“This is the first time a Director-General has declared a Public
Health Emergency of International Concern before convening the
Emergency Committee,” Ghebreyesus said during his address at the
WHO’s annual member states meeting in Geneva, warning that he “did
not take this decision lightly.”

He noted that he reached this decision after consulting with the
health ministers of both affected countries, adding, “because I am
highly concerned about the scale of the epidemic and the speed of its
spread.”

Ghebreyesus explained that there are at least 500 suspected cases of
the virus, in addition to the 131 deaths believed to have been caused
by it since the new outbreak began. Meanwhile, a daily bulletin
issued by health authorities reported 516 suspected cases and 33
confirmed infections in the DRC, alongside two confirmed cases in
neighboring Uganda.

On Sunday, Ghebreyesus declared a Public Health Emergency of
International Concern the WHO’s second-highest alert level in
response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda.

In a related development, the United States announced on Monday that
it will strengthen its precautionary measures to prevent the spread
of the Ebola virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), these measures will include screening travelers
arriving from affected areas and temporarily suspending visa services
for certain countries.

//Petra// AF