Ebola outbreak spreads from Congo to Uganda

KASINDI, Congo — The World Health Organization says an expert committee has been alerted for a possible meeting to discuss whether to declare the Ebola outbreak a global health emergency.

A WHO spokesman says the director general might convene a third meeting after two previous ones decided this Congo-based outbreak was not yet fit for a declaration.

Now the deadly virus has crossed into Uganda, where three cases including one death have been confirmed.

Nearly 1,400 people have died since this outbreak was declared in August.

The two new cases are believed to be family members of the 5-year-old boy who entered Uganda from eastern Congo earlier this week and has since died.

Congo’s health ministry says a dozen members of the boy’s family had showed symptoms of Ebola and were put in isolation.

But six managed to leave while awaiting transfer to an Ebola treatment center. Authorities say they entered Uganda, where the boy is receiving treatment and relatives are isolated.

Experts have long feared Ebola could spread to neighboring countries because of unrest hampering response work in Congo.