Ebola 'emergency status' extended in DR Congo

The World Health Organization (WHO) has extended by three months the designation of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a global health emergency.

WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said the potential remained for a much larger epidemic as long as there was a single case of the disease in an area as insecure as eastern DR Congo.

The outbreak was declared a global health emergency in July 2019 after a patient died in the provincial capital Goma - the first case in a major city.

More than 2,300 people have died since the outbreak began in 2018.