LONDON (AP) -- The World Health Organization on Friday declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be an international public health emergency that requires an extraordinary response to stop its spread.<br />
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It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola, which has a death rate of about 50 percent and has so far killed at least 932 people. WHO declared similar emergencies for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.<br />
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The WHO chief, Dr. Margaret Chan, said the announcement is "a clear call for international solidarity" although she acknowledged that many countries would probably not have any Ebola cases.<br />
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The agency had convened an expert committee this week to assess the severity of the continuing epidemic.<br />
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The impact of the WHO declaration is unclear; the declaration about polio doesn't yet seem to have slowed the spread of virus.<br />
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"Statements won't save lives," said Dr. Bart Janssens, director of operations for Doctors Without Borders. "For weeks, (we) have been repeating that a massive medical, epidemiological and public health response is desperately needed. ... Lives are being lost because the response is too slow."<br />
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"I don't know what the advantage is of declaring an international emergency," added Dr. David Heymann, who directed WHO's response to the SARS outbreak and is now a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.<br />
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"This could bring in more foreign aid but we don't know that yet," he said.<br />
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In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already elevated their Ebola response to the highest level and have recommended against traveling to West Africa.<br />
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On Friday, American health officials also eased safety restrictions on an experimental drug to treat Ebola, a move that could clear the way for its use in patients. Two Americans infected with the deadly virus recently received a different drug never before tested in people and seem to be improving slightly, according to the charity they work for.<br />
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Other experts hoped the WHO declaration would send more health workers to West Africa.
