DAR ES SALAAM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) on Friday issued an alert over the threat posed by the deadly Ebola that has so far killed over 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
"Ebola remains a major threat to the people of the EAC bloc," said the Arusha headquartered regional body in a statement.
In its statement, the EAC warned of the dire consequences of the disease to agriculture, trade, tourism and livelihoods of people in the region.
The statement said the region must prepare well to stop the deadly disease from spilling within its borders, although currently no confirmed cases of Ebola has been reported in the EAC nations.
"The region needs to be prepared and the on-going efforts to operationalize national and regional contingency plans needs to be strengthened," said the statement.
The EAC is comprised of six member countries of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
