WHO says 600 suspected cases, 139 deaths in growing Ebola outbreak

Key points

• Numbers are expected to rise, the WHO warns, as European officials emphasise that the risk of a European outbreak is low.
• The number of suspected Ebola cases in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has risen to 600, with 139 suspected deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
• The WHO Emergency Committee met in Geneva on Wednesday, where Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus confirmed to reporters that the virus remains a public health emergency of international concern, but not a pandemic emergency.
• “The WHO assess the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level,” Tedros said.
• Previous figures reported by DRC officials were an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases.