The deadly Ebola outbreak raging in central Africa likely began several months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, deeming the risk high in the region but low worldwide. WHO experts reported that investigations are underway into the origins of the outbreak, which was declared in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last Friday. The suspicion is that the contagious haemorrhagic fever has been spreading undetected for some time.
WHO Assessment
"Given the scale, we are thinking that it has started probably a couple of months ago," said Anais Legand, WHO technical officer on viral haemorrhagic fevers, during a briefing in Geneva. The UN health agency declared the latest surge an international health emergency. Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past half-century.
Current Situation
The 17th Ebola outbreak to hit the DRC is already suspected of causing 139 deaths from approximately 600 probable cases. "We expect those numbers to keep increasing, given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Challenges in Response
The WHO highlighted the complexity of detecting and responding to the outbreak, which has been spreading in hard-to-reach areas of the DRC's conflict-torn Ituri province. Complicating matters further, the less common Bundibugyo species behind the outbreak does not show up on tests for the more common Zaire strain of Ebola.
