DR Congo Ebola outbreak declared a global health emergency

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now declared the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo a “public health emergency of international concern.”

This move may begin to encourage wealthy donor countries to provide more aid.

The WHO’s announcement stopped short of declaring DRC’s borders should be closed, saying the risk of disease spreading outside the region was not high.

To date, the outbreak of ebola in DR Congo has killed more than 1,600 people. This week saw the first case of the disease detected in Goma, a city home to more than a million.

The PHEIC emergency provision is the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound and has only been used four times previously. This includes the Ebola epidemic that devastated parts of West Africa from 2014 to 2016, and killed more than 11,000 people. "It is time for the world to take notice," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday at which the emergency was declared.

He said he accepted recommendations there should be no restrictions on travel or trade, and no entry screening of passengers at ports or airports outside the immediate region. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies welcomed the move. "While it does not change the reality on the ground for victims or partners engaged in the response, we hope it will bring the international attention that this crisis deserves," it said in a statement.