WHO chief concerned at speed and scale of Ebola outbreak

The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he was deeply concerned at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak, as the number of cases rises.

There are at least 500 suspected cases and 130 suspected deaths from Ebola since the new outbreak began, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

That is in addition to one confirmed death and one confirmed case in Kampala, Uganda - among two individuals who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 30 cases being confirmed in the DRC, from the northeastern province of Ituri, he said.

"These numbers will change as field operations are scaling up, including strengthening surveillance, contact tracing and laboratory testing," Ghebreyesus told members of the World Health Assembly, who are meeting this week in Geneva.

A meeting of the WHO's Emergency Committee is scheduled for later on Tuesday to discuss the Ebola outbreak, Ghebreyesus said.

An emergency committee is made up of international experts who provide technical advice and recommendations to the WHO chief.

There are several factors that have made the WHO concerned about the potential for further spread, such as cases in urban areas, including Kampala, Uganda, and Goma in the DRC, as well as the conflict-affected province of Ituri.

Cases reported among health workers also indicate healthcare-associated transmission, Ghebreyesus said.

-Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin, editing by Linda Pasquini and Thomas Seythal/Reuters