Wuhan coronavirus is not yet a public health emergency of international concern, WHO says

The Wuhan coronavirus does not yet constitute a public health emergency of international concern, the World Health Organization announced Thursday.

"Make no mistake. This is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday. "It may yet become one."The announcement came shortly after an emergency committee was convened over two days in Geneva to advise WHO leadership on the outbreak. WHO was expected to make an announcement Wednesday, but Ghebreyesus then said he did not have enough information to make a decision, and the committee was asked to reconvene a second day.

Committee chairman Dr. Didier Houssin told reporters Thursday that the committee remained split down the middle on whether to issue the recommendation and ultimately decided it was "too early."

On Wednesday, Houssin expressed that the committee was initially unable to make a recommendation because the information it had from Chinese authorities was too limited and imprecise. According to a statement Thursday, Chinese authorities gave the committee new epidemiological data, which included higher numbers of infected people and evidence of fourth-generation cases in Wuhan. The Chinese government has also been asked to provide more information on the preventive measures it's taking and to "enhance surveillance and active case finding across China, particularly during the Chinese New Year celebration."

Ghebreyesus praised the Chinese government for its cooperation and transparency on Thursday.

Advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously told CNN they were concerned that Chinese health officials had still not released basic epidemiological data about the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak, making it more difficult to contain. WHO defines a public health emergency of international concern as "an extraordinary event" that constitutes a "public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease" and "to potentially require a coordinated international response." Previous emergencies have included Ebola, Zika and H1N1.

Ghebreyesus said that WHO's decision "should not be taken as a sign that WHO does not think the situation is serious, or that we are not taking it seriously."

WHO has played a number of roles in the international response to the outbreak, including coordinating with international authorities and researchers, as well as developing guidance for lab testing, treatment and prevention measures.

WHO has previously advised that people in the region avoid unnecessary contact with animals or animal products in markets, that they practice proper hygiene, and that they avoid eating raw or undercooked meat. People with "underlying medical conditions" should avoid live animal markets and raw meats altogether, as those people are "considered at higher risk of severe disease," according to the WHO.

Ghebreyesus said Thursday WHO does not recommend broadening restrictions on travel or trade at the moment, but does recommend ways to detect potential cases in airports and health care settings.