Ebola: how worried should the world be?
5/25/202627 min
An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization.
The latest outbreak involves a rare species of Ebola for which there is no vaccine, and the epicentre is in an area affected by conflict. The WHO says the outbreak may be spreading faster than originally thought.
James Gallagher, the BBC’s health and science correspondent, explains why this outbreak is in some ways more worrying than previous ones, and discusses what it might reveal about global preparedness for international health emergencies.
Producers: Viv Jones, Xandra Ellin, Sam Chantarasak Executive producer: Bridget Harney Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Red Cross workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters/Gradel Muyisa Mumbere)
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJames Gallagher· Guest0:00
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Speaker 31:00
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Asma Khalid· Host1:04
[dramatic music] There's a rare type of Ebola spreading in Central Africa, and there's no vaccine for it. [upbeat music] More than 160 people are suspected to have died from the virus. The numbers of cases and deaths have been rising over the past few days, and the World Health Organization has said it expects them to keep rising.
Speaker 31:28
I'm deeply concerned