South Africa, May 19 -- "All countries need to be vigilant, and SA is no different from all the other countries," said Karim.

"As soon as we identify a case, we've got to ensure we limit the number of contacts because it is very likely that we are going to see several more cases occur."

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention made the PHECS declaration on the recommendations of its Emergency Consultative Group (ECG), which Karim chairs.

Karim said: "The ECG carefully reviewed the epidemiological evidence, regional risk profile, and operational realities surrounding this outbreak.

"The interconnected nature of transmission between DRC and Uganda, combined with the challenges posed by insecurity and cross-border movement,...