The World Health Organization declared Firday that the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa constitutes an international public health emergency.
This declaration is based on a decision by WHO's Emergency Committee's experts who convened throughout the past two days at the Organization's headquarters, agreeing unanimously that the outbreak was "an extraordinary event", meeting all the conditions for a public health emergency, WHO's Director General Margaret Chan said in a press conference.
Ebola outbreak is currently the fastest, most difficult, and most complex in the past 40 years, Chan explained, noting that the epidemic virus could also spread on an international level, according to WHO's experts decision, requiring international attention to prevent its deadly widespreading in the African continent.
She called on the international community to provide affected countries in West Africa with necessary support and cooperation to combat the virus and prevent its widespreading.
"Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own," said Chan, urging at the same time the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible.
Since breaking out earlier this year, the epidemic has claimed 932 lives and infected more than 1,700 people across West Africa, according to WHO.
Ebola outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.