The World Health Organization director-general openly worried Tuesday over the “scale and speed” of an outbreak of a rare type of Ebola in eastern Congo, where authorities reported a sharp increase in suspected deaths -- to at least 131 -- and more than 500 suspected cases.
The virus spread undetected for weeks after the first known death as authorities tested for a more common type of Ebola and came up negative, health experts and aid workers said.
The Bundibugyo virus has no approved medicines or vaccines.
Congo’s health minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, said that investigations were underway to determine whether the deaths and 513 suspected cases were “actually linked to the disease.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he is “deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,” adding that the U.N. health agency will convene its emergency committee later Tuesday.
He pointed to the emergence of cases in urban areas, the deaths of health-care workers and significant population movement.
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