World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that there are 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 deaths suspected to be caused by the virus, and the number is expected to rise given the time the virus spent before the epidemic was detected in Congo and Uganda.

The WHO Emergency Committee confirmed that the latest Ebola outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus strain, constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, but not a pandemic emergency, said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"WHO assesses the risk of the outbreak as high at the national and regional level, and low at the global level," said Ghebreyesus.

Gebrejesus declared a state of emergency over the past weekend, which is the first time the head of the WHO has taken that step without prior consultation with experts, due to the urgency of the situation, media report.

"Our absolute priority now is to identify all existing transmission chains... which will then allow us to truly define the scope of the epidemic and be able to provide care," said WHO emergency chief Chikwe Ihekweazu at a press conference.

The epidemic has alarmed experts because it has spread unnoticed for weeks in a densely populated area that is also affected by widespread armed violence.

The epidemic of the Zaire strain of Ebola in the same region between 2018 and 2020 was the second deadliest ever recorded, killing nearly 2,300 people.

The Bundibugyo strain, which spreads through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people or animals, has an average death rate of about 40 percent, according to WHO data.