Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added that numbers are expected to rise given the amount of time the virus circulated before the outbreak was detected, Reuters reported.

A WHO Emergency Committee met on May 19 in Geneva and confirmed that the latest Ebola outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus is a public health emergency of international concern but not a pandemic emergency, Dr. Tedros said.

The agency head said he declared the emergency on May 17 due to the urgency of the situation, marking the first time a WHO chief has taken that step without first consulting experts.