Off the wire
• Road accidents kill 156 in S. Africa during Easter holiday  • 11 planned terrorist attacks foiled in Germany since 2000: official  • Burundi's constitutional court dismisses 8 MPs of opposition  • Nepalese PM urges acceleration of post-quake reconstruction campaign  • Air defense mission needed in Baltic region: NATO commander  • Urgent: WHO terminates PHEIC on Ebola outbreaks in West Africa  • China leading among Dubai's trade partners in 2015: official  • Rwandan president urges tight security amid global terror attacks  • British FTSE 100 decreases 0.01 pct on Tuesday  • Hungary reduces terrorism alert level to medium  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD: WHO terminates PHEIC on Ebola outbreaks in West Africa

Xinhua, March 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday announced the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa no longer constitute a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The decision came after WHO convened the ninth meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations regarding the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa took place on Tuesday.

WHO noted Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have met the criteria for confirming interruption of their original chains of Ebola virus transmission. Specifically, all three countries have now completed the 42-day observation period and additional 90-day enhanced surveillance period since their last case that was linked to the original chain of transmission twice tested negative.

WHO said Ebola transmission in West Africa "no longer constitutes an extraordinary event and the risk of international spread is now low," adding that all three countries currently have the capacity to respond rapidly to new virus emergence.

WHO called for immediately lifting any restrictions on travel and trade with Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone concerning the Ebola outbreaks, which claimed over 11,000 deaths and infected more than 28,600 patients since the end of 2013. Endit