The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Wednesday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still a global public health concern.

The WHO revised its normal risk assessment protocols and specified this risk as high at national and regional levels, and low at the global level. The WHO also specified measures that could be taken to address this health concern, such as “[s]trengthening preparedness in non-affected provinces of DRC, and more generally strengthening the health system across the country to respond to concurrent health emergencies.”

WHO’s more specific recommendations include continuing cross-border screening and monitoring at checkpoints around disease hot points, as well as bolstering governmental preparedness in non-affected provinces. For the epidemic to officially be over, there have to be no new cases reported for 42 days. Health officials have said sustainable progress towards this issue will depend on the security situation of a given country.

The Emergency Committee created by WHO has stressed the importance of international cooperation in this matter: “The Committee emphasized the importance of continued support by WHO and other national and international partners towards the effective implementation and monitoring of these recommendations.”