131 dead from Ebola: US advises against travel to three African countries and activates emergency controls
The WHO has declared an international health emergency following an upsurge in the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, which is suspected to have killed 131 people and infected more than 500.
A health worker supervises visitors.
The State Department on Tuesday strongly urged Americans not to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan or Uganda amid growing concern about a deadly Ebola outbreak.
The department gave the three Central African countries its highest travel advisory -- "Level 4: Do Not Travel" -- and also urged citizens to "reconsider travel" to neighboring Rwanda.
The WHO has declared an international health emergency the upsurge in the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever, which is suspected to have caused the deaths of 131 people and infected more than 500.
The announcement, moreover, came a day after U.S. health authorities announced tighter airport controls for travelers from areas affected by the outbreak and temporarily suspended the processing of some visas.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the risk to U.S. territory remained low, but it was working to evacuate a U.S. doctor who contracted the virus and six other people from the Democratic Republic of Congo for observation.
Non-U.S. passport holders who have traveled to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo or South Sudan in the past 21 days will be restricted from entering the United States, the CDC said.
It also said it was stepping up its efforts to assist the DRC with technical experts.
No vaccine or effective treatment against the strain of Ebola at the center of this latest outbreak has been proven to exist.
WHO assesses vaccines and treatments for Ebola outbreak
"At the international level, (we are) looking at what candidate vaccines or treatment are available and if any could be of use in this outbreak," Anne Ancia, the WHO's DRC representative, told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Bunia in the Ituri region.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday he was "deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic," and would convene an emergency meeting on the crisis later in the day.
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