×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

WHO sets up Ebola task force with global agencies

Last Updated 18 August 2014, 20:20 IST

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday said it has set up a task force with a global aviation agencies and tourism industry in an effort to contain the spread of Ebola.

The UN agency said it was working hand in hand with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the World Tourism Organisation, Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association and the World Travel and Tourism Council.

The goal, it said in a statement, was to “support the global efforts to contain the spread of the disease and provide a coordinated international response for the travel and tourism sector”.

It added that the task force would “monitor the situation and provide timely information to the travel and tourism sector as well as to travellers”. The first closed-door session of the task force took place on August 13, the WHO said.

On August 8, the WHO declared a global public health emergency over the outbreak of Ebola, a deadly and highly contagious virus which has spread since the beginning of the year from Guinea to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Concerns over air travel were heightened as the outbreak in Nigeria was traced back to an ill traveller who flew from Liberia and infected contacts in Lagos.

In a statement on Monday, the WHO reiterated that it does not recommend any ban on international travel or trade due to the Ebola outbreak, which has infected more than 2,100 people so far and killed 1,145.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 18 August 2014, 20:20 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT