Ebola still global emergency despite big drop in cases

The World Health Organization says the year-long Ebola outbreak in West Africa still qualifies as an international emergency even though the number of cases has plummeted, AP reported.

Last August, the U.N. health agency declared the epidemic of the lethal virus to be a global emergency after the deaths of nearly 1,000 people, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

At the outbreak's peak last year, there were hundreds of new cases being reported every week. WHO reported 30 confirmed cases last week in Guinea and Sierra Leone; the last case in Liberia died on March 27.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, who is leading WHO's Ebola response, said the decline appeared to be real, and that WHO's Ebola emergency committee believes the risk of the virus spreading globally appears to be dropping.