While the World Health Organization (WHO) doesn't regard the latest outbreak of a strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo to be of pandemic status, at least not yet, the disease is spreading and there are increased numbers of casualties and reported cases. The latest data shows that 139 people have died to Ebola already and over 600 cases are confirmed, and while the relevant organisations and authorities are tracking the disease and attempting to trace those who may be carrying and spreading Ebola, the situation has already seen the disease spread to neighbouring countries, namely in Uganda.
To this end, WHO has now shared more information on the matter and stated that we shouldn't be hoping for a vaccine to arrive soon and solve the problem. According to its data, WHO expects a vaccine to take anywhere up to nine months to fabricate, and that we should expect the death toll to continue rising and the number of reported cases to increase in the months ahead.
As per BBC News, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the following: "WHO assesses the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level."
Various countries are now beginning to prepare aid for DR Congo and Uganda to help combat the spread of Ebola, while a travel ban is in place to certain countries including the United States, although not for the DR Congo football World Cup players.