WHO says Ebola not a “pandemic emergency,” and U.S. criticism over response may be down to “misunderstanding”

Geneva — The World Health Organization said Wednesday that risks in the Democratic Republic of Congo deadly Ebola outbreak It is currently high at national and regional levels but low globally.

WHO experts say that while an investigation into its origins is ongoing, given the scale of the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the outbreak may have started months ago.

But the U.N. health agency’s emergency committee said the pandemic emergency threshold has not yet been reached.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “WHO assesses that the risk of the epidemic at the national and regional levels is high and the risk at the global level is low.”

So far, 51 cases have been confirmed in the eastern DRC provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, “even though we know the outbreak in DRC is much larger,” he told a news conference at the World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva.

He said the Ugandan capital Kampala also reported two confirmed cases, including one death, while a U.S. citizen working in the Democratic Republic of Congo Confirmed positive and transferred to Germany. American doctor Peter Stafford, whose family lives with him in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been evacuated to Germany and is receiving treatment, missionary group Sergey said on Tuesday.

“There are several factors that warrant serious concern about the potential for further spread and more deaths,” Tedros said.

“In addition to confirmed cases, there are nearly 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths,” he said. “Given how long the virus spread before the outbreak was detected, we expect these numbers to continue to increase.”

Ebola outbreak not a ‘pandemic emergency’

On Sunday, Tedros declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern — the second-highest alert level under the legally binding International Health Regulations (IHR) — triggering an emergency response from countries around the world.

The World Health Organization’s emergency committee met on Tuesday to assess the outbreak.

“The current situation and the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern have been met, and we agree that the current situation does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency,” committee chair Lucille Bloomberg told reporters from South Africa.

Anais Legand, WHO’s technical officer for viral hemorrhagic fevers, said investigations are underway to determine how long Ebola has been circulating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Given the scale, we believe the outbreak may have started months ago, but the investigation is ongoing and our priority is really to break the chain of transmission by implementing contact tracing, isolating and caring for all suspected and confirmed cases,” she said.

WHO responds to US criticism

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the World Health Organization was “a little late” in identifying the deadly outbreak.

In one of his first actions since returning to office last year, President Trump launched a US withdraws from World Health OrganizationHe harshly criticized the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous public health officials and experts warned at that time As one of the largest funders of global health through international and national agencies, including the World Health Organization, the United States’ withdrawal from such programs could impact efforts to provide life-saving health care and combat deadly outbreaks, especially in low-income countries.

Asked about Rubio’s criticism, Tedros said, “Perhaps what the secretary of state said … may be due to a lack of understanding of how the International Health Regulations work and the responsibilities of the WHO and other entities.” He explained that the agency’s actions are to support countries, not replace them in responding to the epidemic.