World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Nigeria currently faces a low risk of an Ebola outbreak,  even as the virus continues to spread in parts of Africa.

The Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Chikwe Ihekweazu, disclosed this yesterday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show.

He said surveillance and response systems had been strengthened across affected regions, noting that Nigeria’s exposure remained limited compared to neighbouring countries.

ON the global scene, Ihekweazu warned that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had reached the highest level of seriousness and required a coordinated global response, saying the outbreak had met the criteria for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern due to its severity and spread beyond the DRC.

“This outbreak is serious. It requires a coordinated international response. Sadly, it has already spread to other countries. All the criteria have been fulfilled,” he said.

He noted that the outbreak was already affecting multiple provinces in the DRC and had recorded more than 300 confirmed cases.

“This is the third time an Ebola outbreak has met these criteria. So, you know, we’re in a difficult position. There are over 300 confirmed cases already. It’s spread out around three provinces in the DRC. A province in the DRC is about the size of a state in Nigeria. So the outbreak is really ahead of us right now,” he said.

Ihekweazu said WHO and its partners were intensifying efforts to contain the outbreak but stressed that the situation remained extremely serious.

“What we’re doing is working very hard to scale up our response to contain it. So how serious is it? It is a very serious event. It’s at the highest level of seriousness, if I can use that word, requiring a global response in solidarity with the people of the DRC,” he said.

He called on countries around the world to support the response effort, saying international solidarity would be critical to bringing the outbreak under control.

“It means that everyone around the world has to pull their resources together to support this country during this difficult time for them,” he said.

While acknowledging concerns about cross-border transmission, Ihekweazu said Uganda remained the only country outside the DRC to have recorded confirmed Ebola cases linked to the current outbreak.

He added that controlling the outbreak at its source remained the best way to protect other countries from potential spread.

“The hope for the rest of the world we live in now is controlling this outbreak here. We can protect every other country around the world if we focus our energies in controlling the outbreak itself. And that’s really what we’re focusing on at the moment,” he said.