Ebola Fears Force Postponement of India–Africa Summit in New Delhi
The fourth edition of the India–Africa Forum Summit scheduled to hold in New Delhi next week has been postponed following growing concerns over the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said both India and the African Union agreed to shift the meeting to a later date due to the worsening health situation in parts of Africa.
The summit, which was expected to run from May 28 to May 31, was designed to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties between India and African nations. Authorities said fresh dates for the gathering would be announced in due course.
India also pledged support for efforts being coordinated by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to contain the outbreak and improve emergency health response across the continent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday described the risk posed by the outbreak as high within central Africa, although it maintained that the global threat remains low.
The agency added that the virus may have circulated unnoticed for several months before it was officially confirmed.
The latest outbreak, declared in eastern DR Congo last Friday, is the country’s 17th Ebola resurgence. Health officials suspect about 600 infections, while at least 139 deaths have already been linked to the disease.
Ebola, a severe and highly infectious haemorrhagic fever, has claimed more than 15,000 lives across Africa over the past five decades.
Meanwhile, authorities at New Delhi’s international airport have issued health advisories for travellers arriving from DR Congo, Uganda and South Sudan as precautionary measures intensify.
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