Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 12 – Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, including a pandemic emergency of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), after having consulted the States Parties where the event is known to be currently occurring, is hereby determining that the Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), but does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency, as defined in the IHR.
The Director-General of WHO expresses his gratitude to the leadership of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda for their commitment to take necessary and vigorous actions to bring the event under control, as well as for their frankness in assessing the risk posed by this event to other States Parties, hence allowing the global community to take necessary preparedness actions.
In his determination the Director-General of WHO has considered, inter alia, information provided by the States Parties – the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda – scientific principles as well as the available scientific evidence and other relevant information; and assessed the risk to human health, the risk of international spread of disease and of the risk of interference with international traffic.
The Director-General of WHO considers that the event meets the criteria of the definition of PHEIC, contained in Article 1 – Definitions of the IHR, for the following reasons:
1. The event is extraordinary for the following reasons:
2. The event constitutes a public health risk to other States Parties through the international spread of disease. International spread has already been documented, with two confirmed cases reported in Kampala, Uganda on 15 and 16 May following travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Both confirmed cases were admitted to intensive care units in Kampala. Neighboring countries sharing land borders with the Democratic Republic of the Congo are considered at high risk for further spread due to population mobility, trade and travel linkages, and ongoing epidemiological uncertainty.
3. The event requires international coordination and cooperation to understand the extent of the outbreak, to coordinate surveillance, prevention and response efforts, to scale up and strengthen operations and ensure ability to implement control measures.
The Director-General of WHO, under the provisions of the IHR, will be convening an Emergency Committee, as soon as possible to advise, inter alia, on the proposed temporary recommendation for States Parties to respond to the event.
The WHO advice is enumerated below and will be subject to further refinement as appropriate after having considered the advice from the Emergency Committee and issuing of Temporary Recommendations.
* The statement was updated to provide the status of a case reported on 16 May in Kinshasa.
Coordination and high-level engagement
Risk communication and community engagement
Surveillance and laboratory
Infection prevention and control in health facilities and in the context of care
Patients’ referral pathway and access to safe and optimized intensive care
Research and development of medical countermeasures
Border health, travels and mass-gathering events
Safe and dignified burials
Operations, supplies and logistics
Media Contacts
WHO Media Team
World Health Organization
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