The strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency ​of international concern by the WHO on Sunday.

WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus told reporters: "We are now revising our risk assessment to ​very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at ⁠global level."

So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in Congo, ​with seven confirmed deaths, 177 suspected deaths and almost 750 suspected cases.

The situation in Uganda is ​stable, with two cases confirmed in people who travelled from the DRC, one of them fatal, Tedros said.

Mahamud, WHO Director of ​Health Emergency Alert & Response Operations said the potential of this virus spreading rapidly is high, very high, and that changed the whole dynamic.