WHO declares Ebola ‘very high’ risk in Congo as US prepares for World Cup
The World Health Organization has declared the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo a “very high” risk in the central African nation as the virus threatens to derail the FIFA World Cup next month.
The WHO upgraded its risk assessment level for the Congo on Friday and released the latest figures associated with the outbreak. There are 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in the Congo, tied to Ebola. Additionally, there are nearly 750 suspected cases and over 170 suspected deaths.
On Saturday, the Red Cross announced three of its workers had died this month after contracting Ebola. The humanitarian organization said they carried out “dead body management activities” in late March.
Ebola is highly contagious when a person comes into direct contact with the bodily fluids of someone who is sick, or in this case, dead. The rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus is the particular strain that caused the outbreak.
While the Ebola risk for the Congo is very high, the United Nations health agency kept the regional risk level at high and the global risk level at low.
Still, the United States is taking no chances as the country prepares to host international soccer teams for the World Cup between June 11 and July 19.
Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, urged the Congolese team to self-isolate in Belgium for three weeks before traveling to the U.S. to prevent the Ebola outbreak from spreading beyond Africa.
“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11th,” Giuliani told ESPN on Friday. “We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well, that they need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer.”
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“If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team,” he said of the team’s staff that left the Congo this week. “If they end up coming, and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup.”
The Congo’s soccer team is training before competing with Denmark in Belgium on June 3 and playing against Chile in Spain on June 9. After arriving in the U.S., the Congo faces Portugal in Houston on June 17, Colombia in Mexico on June 23, and Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 27.
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