Fears raised of Ebola outbreak spreading to other countries
Sierra Leone's sole expert in fighting such diseases, who treated more than 100 patients in the current outbreak, hailed as a 'national hero'
Fears that the west African Ebola outbreak could spread to Europe grew yesterday, with the EU allocating extra spending and a leading medical charity warning the epidemic was out of control.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned the crisis gripping Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone would only get worse and could not rule out it spreading to other countries.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has met global health officials on implementing measures to halt the spread of the disease, as the pan-African airline ASKY suspended all flights to and from the capitals of Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Meanwhile the European Union allocated an extra €2 million (HK$116 million) to fight the outbreak, bringing total EU funding to €3.9 million.
"The level of contamination on the ground is extremely worrying and we need to scale up our action before many more lives are lost," said EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva.
We are very much focused on it [Ebola] as a new and emerging threat
The bloc has deployed experts on the ground to help victims and try to limit contagion but Georgieva called for a "sustained effort from the international community to help West Africa deal with this menace".