East African Community to Hold Emergency Meeting Over Ebola Outbreak

 The East African Community (EAC) will hold an extraordinary meeting of its Council of Ministers of Health on June 1-2 to coordinate measures against the Ebola outbreak, the organization announced in a press release.

Participants will discuss a regional strategy to contain the disease, including holding EAC emergency crisis meetings, sessions of the EAC Technical Working Group on Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases, and a group to harmonize regulations for potential vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic methods against Ebola.

"We are mobilizing regional mechanisms and closely working with partner states, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), WHO, and development partners to strengthen epidemiological surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, infection prevention and control, risk communication, and rapid response capacity," said EAC Secretary-General Stephen Mbundi.

As part of the response, the EAC will deploy a network of mobile laboratories for rapid testing and epidemiological surveillance in border areas of the region's countries, as well as strengthen laboratory diagnostics through regional centers.

Additionally, the community plans to implement a training program for medical specialists in the treatment of highly dangerous infections, including Ebola, and conduct further training sessions in June. To support the outbreak response, the organization has already purchased 500 sets of personal protective equipment for the DRC and Uganda.

At the end of May, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) called for enhanced regional preparedness for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the new Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern. On May 29, the DRC authorities reported that the number of suspected deaths from the disease had reached 1,028, with 225 confirmed cases. Uganda's Ministry of Health has reported nine confirmed cases.

In response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, authorities in Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, and Rwanda have announced measures to combat the infection.

Ebola is a severe, acute viral disease with a high fatality rate. Transmission occurs through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected individuals, as well as with contaminated surfaces and materials.