The World Health Organisation has declared the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a “public health emergency of international concern”.

A group of experts met on Wednesday to determine whether the Ebola outbreak should be declared an international emergency after the virus spread to eastern Congo’s biggest city this week.

The committee has previously declined to make the declaration – which often brings more international attention and aid – on three occasions.

This week a preacher with Ebola was identified after arriving by bus in Goma, a city of more than 2 million people and a major regional crossroads in northeastern Congo on the Rwandan border, with an international airport.

The pastor used several fake names to conceal his identity on his way to the city, Congolese officials said. WHO on Tuesday said the man had died and health workers were scrambling to trace dozens of his contacts, including those who had travelled on the same bus.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of WHO, earlier described Ebola’s spread to Goma as a potential “game changer”.

“It is time for the world to take notice and redouble our efforts,” he said in a statement announcing the classification.

The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Show all 6 1 /6 The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Linda Dixon, 60, leads research into African swine fever at the Pirbright Institute in Surrey "For more than 25 years I've been trying to develop a vaccine for the African swine fever virus, which causes death in domestic pigs, and has symptoms quite like Ebola. It came from East Africa in the 1920s and was transmitted to Georgia in 2007 via food from shipping that was fed to pigs. It has now spread to neighbouring countries and this year entered the EU via Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It's difficult to eliminate because it also infects wild boar, which populate large parts of Europe." David Vintiner The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Simon Woodmore, 45, is a paramedic and operations officer for London Ambulance Service's Hazardous Area Response Team (Hart) "I have a helmet for all occasions – five in all – as well as an array of outfits, including breathing apparatus and gas-tight suits, respirators and chemical protective suits. My job is to put paramedics where historically they could not have worked. We were born out of the Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995, and have been running as Hart since 2006. There are 94 of us in London dealing with chemical, biological and radiological incidents, as well as building collapses and floods." David Vintiner The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Simon Woodmore, paramedic and operations officer "We've always dealt with contagious diseases and work with the Royal Free Hospital London high-level isolation unit to transfer confirmed cases, which fortunately is rare. A lot of it is communicating with the patient in a caring and compassionate way, which can be difficult when you're in full gear. There is an increased awareness of Ebola, but it's about reinforcing the processes we already have in place. Any personal risk is mitigated by our training and equipment." David Vintiner The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Benjamin Black, 33, is a specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) "In June I travelled to Sierra Leone, where one in 21 women of reproductive age dies in childbirth. This was my first mission, and the reason I got into medicine. I had my eyes wide open to Ebola; though it was still in its early days and concentrated across the border in Guinea, within days I had my first suspected Ebola cases in maternity. It was happening." David Vintiner The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Benjamin Black, Médecins Sans Frontières "You need a healthy amount of fear to be safe, as well as protocol and organisational back-up. The greatest fear then is how long you can keep getting it right. There is also a huge psychological element. I checked my temperature daily, but in a hot, humid country there's a constant feverish feeling anyway. We had scares and one of our national nurses was infected, probably in the community. He sadly died and it had a huge impact on the team." David Vintiner The men and women on the frontline against Ebola and other hazards Lisa Jameson, 29, is a National Institute for Health Research doctoral research fellow for Public Health England, based at the Porton Down facility in Wiltshire. She specialises in emerging viruses "I was in the field watching patients come into the isolation centre next to us, often with their families. Sometimes they'd be walking and talkative, then die that night. It was tough but we were so busy, and being there made it feel like we were making a difference. When I got home after a month, I felt a sense of guilt that I was able to walk away. I'll almost certainly be going back." David Vintiner

“We need to work together in solidarity with the DRC to end this outbreak and build a better health system” the statement continued. “Extraordinary work has been done for almost a year under the most difficult circumstances. We all owe it to these responders – coming from not just WHO but also government, partners and communities – to shoulder more of the burden.”

But Congo’s health minister, Dr Oly Ilunga, insisted the situation was “not a humanitarian crisis”.

Moussa Sangara, Ebola response director in the DRC for World Vision, said in a statement sent to The Independent the group welcomes the announcement, “which comes at a critical time as the crisis escalates. It will unlock much needed funding to help health workers on the ground delivering life-saving aid in the midst of two wars: the fight against Ebola, and the ongoing conflict in northeastern DRC”.

“Ebola is a violent, terrifying disease,” he added. “It has already claimed thousands of lives, including hundreds of children, who make up about 30 per cent of Ebola cases.”

Meanwhile, the top US diplomat in Geneva said this week the United States will “provide more in the coming months” to help respond to the Ebola outbreak, while the European Union ambassador says the bloc will examine possibilities to scale up its response.

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US Charge d’Affaires Mark Cassayre also told a UN conference on Ebola on Monday that the United States is calling on member states to increase their contributions to the response, which the WHO says is underfunded.

Nearly 1,700 people have died in Congo in the outbreak.