The World Health Organization has raised its risk assessment for the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 'very high' at the national level due to its rapid spread. While the regional risk is high, the global risk remains low.

The head of the World Health Organization said on Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency was revising upwards to “very high” its assessment of the risk within Congo, which had previously been deemed as high. The risk remains high for regional spread and low at global levels, he told reporters. The WHO chief noted that 82 cases have been...