The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and neighboring Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
WHO said that the outbreak doesn’t meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like COVID-19, and advised against the closure of international borders.
WHO said on X that a laboratory-confirmed case has also been reported in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the outbreak’s epicenter in the eastern province of Ituri, suggesting a possible wider spread. It said the patient had visited Ituri and that other suspected cases have also been reported in North Kivu province, which is one of Congo’s most populous and borders Ituri.
On Sunday, the rebel government of Goma, Eastern Congo’s largest city, confirmed in a statement that the first confirmed case of Ebola
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