World Health Organization declares Ebola outbreak "public health emergency"

A meeting of the World Health Organization's highest-ranking officials has determined the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa is a "public health emergency."

The announcement was made in a statement by the WHO, which described the outbreak as "an extraordinary event" that posed a risk to the public health of other nations.

The statement also warned the consequences of the disease's spread could be grave. This is because the countries already afflicted, and those that border them, are relatively poor and possess undeveloped health infrastructure systems that would enable them to combat and contain the spread of the disease. Compounding matters is Ebola's virulence and rapid spread.

The WHO called for a coordinated and sustained international effort to help aid the afflicted countries because this current outbreak is the largest since the disease was first discovered in the 1970s.

The WHO statement elaborated on some of the challenges that have enabled the disease to spread, and which the emergency plan of action must try to overcome.

In addition to a weak medical infrastructure and lack of adequately trained medical personnel, there is also a public misconception about the dangers of the disease. Many falsehoods about the disease and how it is spread are readily accepted as fact, only worsening the situation.

Another issue is the high mobility of people in a connected, globalized age. There have been several instances where the infected have crossed international borders, which is how the disease arrived in Nigeria.

The fact that medical personnel are also coming down with the disease means there are inadequate safeguards in place to protect those tending to the ill.

The WHO statement also urges those countries with the disease to declare states of emergency so the necessary personnel and funds can be me available to fight Ebola.