The Government today announced the activation of the Alert Response Level under the Preparedness & Response Plan for Ebola Virus Disease. The decision follows the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration of an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.

The Alert Response Level is the lowest of the three tiers under the Government’s response plan.

While Hong Kong has recorded no confirmed Ebola cases to date and the immediate health risk to the local population remains low, the Department of Health’s Centre for Health Protection is implementing strict prevention and control measures to guard against imported cases.

According to the WHO, the current epidemic is caused by the Bundibugyo virus disease, a strain of the Ebola virus genus. The WHO has warned that the actual outbreak is potentially much larger than currently detected and reported, with a significant risk of regional spread, noting that there are no specific therapeutics or vaccines for this particular strain.

The Centre for Health Protection urged the public to avoid visiting the affected regions unless absolutely necessary, and reminded citizens to maintain strict personal and environmental hygiene while travelling abroad.