The World Health Organisation has declared an Ebola outbreak centred on the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern, as a senior health official warned he was in "panic mode" with no approved vaccine available and 88 suspected deaths recorded.

Figures from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) put the total number of suspected cases at 336, with the overwhelming majority concentrated in the DRC and a further two confirmed in the Ugandan capital.

Africa CDC director-general Dr Jean Kaseya told Sky News the fatality rate with this particular strain of the virus was higher than usual, and that the absence of an approved vaccine left him deeply alarmed.

"Currently, I'm on panic mode because people are dying. I don't have medicines. I don't have [a] vaccine to support countries," he said.

According to the WHO, the epicentre of the crisis lies in Ituri, a remote province of the DRC, with cases recorded across a minimum of three health zones, among them Bunia, Rwampara and Mongbwalu, reports Sky News.

Kampala saw two separate laboratory-confirmed diagnoses emerge on consecutive days over Friday and Saturday - in patients who had each made the journey from the DRC, though the WHO said the two cases appeared to have no connection to one another. One of those patients died, and their body was subsequently returned to the DRC. Uganda's health ministry described both cases as "imported" from across the border.

Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said the suspected origin of the current outbreak was a nurse who died at a hospital in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, in April. Speaking via a translator, he said: "People in the community said it was witchcraft or things like that... We realised that the first person fell ill in late April and died on April 24th in Bunia, and the body was repatriated to the Mongwalu health zone. It was the return of this body to the Mongwalu health zone, which is a mining area with a large population, that caused the Ebola outbreak to escalate."

While the WHO stopped short of classifying the situation as a pandemic emergency comparable to Covid-19, it urged countries to keep their borders open, warning against travel restrictions. Africa CDC sounded the alarm over the potential for the disease to jump beyond Congo's borders, pointing to the close geographical relationship between the affected zones and both Uganda and South Sudan. With "active community transmission" already under way, medical teams were working at pace to broaden their screening programmes and track down those who had come into contact with confirmed cases.

Complicating containment efforts, Africa CDC said ongoing attacks by Islamic State-backed militants were hampering surveillance and rapid response work in Ituri.

Dr Kaseya issued a stark warning to the international community, saying: "Western countries, they don't understand that when Africa is affected, they are also at risk because people are flying every day." He added that candidate vaccines and medicines were being developed, saying: "We hope that we can have something in the next coming weeks."

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praised the governments of the DRC and Uganda for their response, saying he commended their "swift leadership and transparency" in declaring the outbreaks. He added: "Early detection, rapid reporting and decisive action remain critical to containing outbreaks before they escalate into a wider regional crisis."

Saturday's declaration marks the 17th time the DRC has faced an Ebola outbreak since the virus was first documented within its borders nearly five decades ago. One of the most devastating struck eastern Congo between 2018 and 2020, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 people.