WHO fears continued "intense transmission" of Ebola virus in DRC

The World Health Organization said on Friday it feared continued "intense transmission" of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where deaths from a nine-month-old epidemic is 994 and expected to exceed 1,000 within hours. The WHO plans to introduce an unlicensed new Ebola vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, in addition to a Merck vaccine already being used, as "another tool in the toolbox", Dr. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, told a news briefing in Geneva.

But security incidents continue to plague the response to the outbreak, including a would-be assault on a facility on Thursday, slowing vaccination and daily checks on some 12,000 people potentially exposed to the virus, he said.