GENEVA, May 19 (Reuters) – The head of the World Health Organization expressed deep concern on Tuesday at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak, as the number of cases rises.
There have been at least 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths from Ebola since the new outbreak began, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Later figures put the toll at 131 fatalities associated with the outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. There have been 516 suspected cases and 33 confirmed cases in Congo, according to a daily bulletin published by health authorities, and two confirmed cases in neighbouring Uganda.
Tedros told members of the World Health Assembly meeting this week in Geneva that the “numbers will change as field operations are scaling up, including strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and laboratory testing.”
“I’m deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,” Tedros said.
A meeting of the WHO’s Emergency Committee is scheduled for later on Tuesday to discuss the Ebola outbreak, Tedros said.
An emergency committee is made up of international experts who provide technical advice and recommendations to the WHO chief.
There are several factors that have made the WHO concerned about the potential for further spread, such as cases in urban areas, including Kampala, Uganda, and Goma in the DRC, as well as the conflict-affected province of Ituri.
Cases reported among health workers also indicate healthcare-associated transmission, Tedros said.
The WHO has approved $3.9 million in emergency funding to support national authorities as they respond to the outbreak.
(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, Editing by Linda Pasquini and Thomas Seythal and Timothy Heritage)
