By RFIPubliée on 16-07-2019Modified the 16-07-2019 at 01:27

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Ebola virus is still difficult to control. According to the WHO boss, the detection of a patient in the big city of Goma could "change everything". Goma is a city of one million inhabitants and very frequent exchanges with other cities in the country. The WHO emergency committee is scheduled to meet again in the coming days to decide whether Ebola has become a global threat.

With our correspondent in Geneva , Jérémie Lanche

The assassination of two people involved in Ebola operations in North Kivu and the arrival of the virus in Goma upset the agenda of the WHO meeting held on Monday, July 15, at the United Nations United. If the epidemic has made its way to Goma , it could also affect the capital Kinshasa. The Congolese Minister of Health is reassuring. Oly Ilunga believes that the risk of spread is not greater today than since the appearance of the virus.

" The risk is present from the first day. Risk factors have not changed. During those eleven months, it was not communicated, there were high-risk contacts that came to Goma, which we identified, that we sent back to the area. There are risk contacts in Bunia, Kisangani. There were even high-risk contacts in Kinshasa that were brought back. So the risk is not higher. You just have to keep calm. The risks have been the same since the first days, "Olly Illunga said.

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is not surprised by the arrival of Ebola in Goma, but feels the situation is serious enough to reconvene the WHO emergency committee and declare or not Ebola " public health emergency of global reach ". All countries would then be involved in the fight against the disease and no longer only the DRC and neighboring countries

This will be the fourth meeting of the emergency committee since the onset of the disease almost a year ago.

"The identification of a case of #Ebola in Goma, #DRC could potentially be a game-changer in the epidemic." - @DrTedros pic.twitter.com/ojvTXYnEvV

World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 15, 2019

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