WHO declares ebola outbreak an international health emergency

West Africa's raging epidemic of Ebola virus is an "extraordinary event" and now constitutes an international health risk, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said today.

The Geneva-based United Nations health agency said the possible consequences of further international spread of the outbreak, which has killed almost 1,000 people in four West African countries, are "particularly serious" in view of the virulence of the virus.

“A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola,“ the WHO said in a statement after a two-day meeting of its emergency committee on Ebola.

The declaration of an international emergency will have the effect of raising the level of vigilance for transmission of the virus.

The agency added that while all states with Ebola transmission - so far Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone - should declare a national emergency, there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.

Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s head of health security, stressed that, with the right steps and measures to deal with infected people, Ebola’s spread could be stopped.

“This is not a mysterious disease. This is an infectious disease that can be contained,” he told reporters on a telephone briefing from the WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “It is not a virus that is spread through the air.”

The WHO said the current outbreak was the most severe in the almost 40 years since Ebola was first identified in humans.

This was partly because of weaknesses in the countries currently affected, it said, where health systems were fragile and lacking in human, financial and material resources.

It also said inexperience in dealing with Ebola outbreaks and misperceptions of the disease, including how it is transmitted, “continue to be a major challenge in some communities”.

Although most cases of Ebola are in the remote area where Guinea borders Sierra Leone and Liberia, alarm over the spread of the disease increased last month when a US citizen died in Nigeria after travelling there by plane from Liberia.

After an experimental drug was administered to two US charity workers who were infected in Liberia, Ebola specialists have urged the WHO to offer such drugs to Africans.

The UN agency has asked medical ethics experts to explore this option next week.

Meanwhile, gold miner Aureus Mining Inc, which is active in Liberia and Cameroon, said it was taking precautions to protect staff against the risk of Ebola, adding there were no reported or suspected cases of the virus across its operations.

The company said construction at its New Liberty gold deposit in Liberia continued and non-essential staff had been granted leave, including the exploration team following the completion of the drilling season.

The worst-ever outbreak of Ebola - one of the deadliest diseases known to man - has claimed more than 900 lives since February in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to WHO figures.

Aureus Mining said it was implementing precautionary measures and contingency plans to ensure that employees, contractors and visitors were not exposed to unnecessary risks.

Reuters