Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jul 18, 2019 / 15:26 pm
The nearly year-long Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reached the level of an international health emergency, the World Health Organization declared yesterday.
The declaration, which critics say is long overdue, could bring greater resources to the region, where violence and skepticism of international medical personnel have hampered treatment and prevention efforts.
Officials made the international health emergency designation – for only the fifth time in history – after a priest died from Ebola in Goma, a city of some 2 million residents, which serves as a major crossroads on the border with Rwanda.
Risk of the virus being transmitted to neighboring countries is "very high," WHO officials said, although outside of the immediate region, risk remains low.