Brussels, 12/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 May, the European Medical Corps was deployed for the first time, to help fight the yellow fever epidemic in Angola.
Its mission is expected to last two weeks and the team comprises medical experts from three member states (Belgium, Germany and Portugal), the European Commission and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
A Commission press release states that the team's objective is to understand better how the epidemic broke out, to assess Angola's additional needs for support, and to analyse the implications of the epidemic for Europe and Europeans travelling in the region.
The yellow fever epidemic broke out in Luanda, the capital of Angola, in December 2015 and then spread into other towns and regions. Imported cases have been noted in China, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mauritania.
Operational since February 2016, the European Medical Corps is a new instrument for managing crises. It enables the EU to deploy medical teams and equipment swiftly both in the EU and in third countries (see EUROPE 11490). The European Medical Corps came about as the result of the lessons learned from the Ebola crisis in West Africa. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)