The UN health body’s emergency committee determined in Geneva yesterday that making such a declaration would have unwanted consequences for the Central African giant where more than 1400 people have died from the deadly hemorrhagic disease since last July.

WHO Director General Tedros Ghbreyesus acknowledges that EBOLA is very much an emergency for those affected by it.

The WHO emergency committee says the spread of the disease into Uganda is an extraordinary event of deep concern.

But the danger of it spreading into Rwanda and South Sudan is limited.

The declaration of a public health event of international concern, which would trigger more funding but also a travel ban, is not warranted. 

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Trade and travel restictions could follow if the UN body decides it is.

Weeks after the all clear was sounded after the  Ebola outbreak recorded in Equateur Province in the DRC last May another outbreak occurred in the conflict torn North Kivu Province in the east of the Central African giant.  

Since the beginning of the month it’s killed 25 people and the WHO must determine whether there’s a real danger of it spreading  across the border to Uganda , Rwanda and Burundi

Public health emergencies were declared for the H1 N1 swine flu outbreak in 2009,  the polio that re-emerged with the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Zika fever outbreak in 2016.

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