Brussels, 19/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 15 August, EU foreign ministers expressed deep concern about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Ebola a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” and EU foreign ministers “pledged the EU's solidarity and support for the countries concerned, as well as for the health workers and international organisations that are doing their utmost to combat the disease.”
On 8 August, the European Union increased its financial aid to fighting the virus to €11.9 million, aid provided through the European Commission's humanitarian aid service, ECHO. As requested by the WHO, the EU has activated its civilian protection mechanism in order to facilitate the deployment of aid. A second “European mobile laboratory” will be deployed in the coming days, most likely to Sierra Leone, to provide essential support to diagnostics and testing.
The oubreak of the highly contagious Ebola haemorragic fever in Guinea in late december 2013 has spread to Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The WHO says it has cost more than 1,100 lives so far.
Following press reports about a number of people potentially affected by Ebola in Belgium and Germany, the WHO calls for a screening of people wanting to travel from affected countries in order to contain spread of the virus.
Given the dangerous health situation, Burkina Faso has decided to postpone until further notice the African Union Summit scheduled to take place in Ouagadougou in early September. (MB)