The chief of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo now poses a “very high risk” in that African nation, adding that it is spreading rapidly.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of global spread remains low, but that the U.N. health agency was revising its assessment of the risk within Congo higher from its previous categorization of “high.”
Ghebreyesus said that 82 cases have been confirmed in Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, The Associated Press reported. He did state that the outbreak is believed to be “much larger,” adding there are now almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths.
[ WHO declares Ebola outbreak a global health emergency ]
The outbreak of the rare virus in Congo and neighboring Uganda caused a public health concern after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths, the AP originally reported.
Officials in Congo believe the number of suspected and confirmed deaths this year is among the highest for any outbreak in the nation’s history, The New York Times reported.
A previous Ebola outbreak in Congo in 2018 was the second-deadliest ever recorded and took two years to contain, according to the newspaper.
[ US doctor among newest cases in Congo’s Ebola outbreak ]
The Times reported that health officials believe the current epidemic began in Mongwalu in Congo’s Ituri province.
Cases were also confirmed in Uganda’s capital city of Kampala, according to the newspaper.
WHO officials said the possibility of an outbreak spreading is compounded by a humanitarian crisis in Africa, along with high population mobility and a large network of informal health care facilities in the area, according to the newspaper.
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