By RFIPalled on 17-07-2019Modified on 17-07-2019 at 20:18
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday (July 17th) the global health emergency due to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC that has killed 1,668 people since last summer. An alert given after the death of the first case recorded in a metropolis in Goma, the second largest city in the country at the crossroads of the Great Lakes. So what is the global health emergency?
The decision to declare an international public health emergency is made by a panel of WHO experts. For this, the World Health Organization takes into account several criteria, the first of which is the risk of spreading the virus internationally.
In the case of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, this declaration of global health emergency reflects the concern of experts to see the disease spread in other countries.
The city of Goma , which has 1 million inhabitants and a patient died Tuesday, is indeed located on the border with Rwanda. Its international airport is also very connected to Kinshasa or Addis Ababa.
The WHO Director General said it was " time for the world to take note " of the epidemic, but he recommended that the DRC's borders with its neighbors remain open.
From now on, following this global alert, the 196 signatory countries of the international health regulation will have to reinforce their surveillance of the Ebola virus within their borders, but also in their airports and seaports with systematic controls of the passengers.
This is the fifth time since 2005 that a global health emergency has been launched by WHO.
► See also: DRC: after the Ebola case in Goma, WHO convenes emergency committee
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