UNICEF warns of higher risk to youngest children

#DemocraticRepublicoftheCongo; #Internationalhealthemergency; #EbolaOutbreak

United Nations, July 17 (Canadian-Media/UN): Ahead of a key expert UN meeting to decide whether to declare the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) an international health emergency, UN Children’s Fund UNICEF warned that the epidemic “is infecting more children” than earlier outbreaks.

To date, there have been more than 2,500 cases of infection and nearly 1,670 people have died in the DRC provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, making it the worst outbreak the country has ever faced and the second largest epidemic on record.
​
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that an emergency meeting on the outbreak will take place on Wednesday afternoon in Geneva to decide whether the situation warrants declaring an international emergency.