WIREDGOV

Scottish Government’s £500,000 boost to international aid effort. 

The Scottish Government today announced £500,000 to help combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

The emergency funding will support local and international efforts to control the outbreak and prevent further spread of the disease.

Minister for Public Health, Michael Matheson said:

“The Scottish Government is committed to aiding the global response to this devastating outbreak in West Africa.

“We know that Ebola has an extremely high fatality rate and this makes it essential to speed up and co-ordinate the response in affected communities and ensure humanitarian needs are met.

“This funding will support the mobilisation of additional resources and efforts of local teams in bringing the outbreak under control, as well as providing much needed aid for the people affected by the outbreak.”

The funding will be released to the World Health Organization (WHO), International Rescue Committee and UNICEF and support efforts to scale up specialist care, improve monitoring and tracking of the disease and deliver resources such as emergency kits, clean blankets, hygiene and sanitising equipment. 

To date, the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic has been reported in four countries: Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone with a total of 2,240 cases and 1229 deaths. According to the World Health Organisation, it is the largest recorded outbreak in terms of cases, deaths and geographical coverage. 

Background

• Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) symptoms include high fever, bleeding and central nervous system damage.
• Fatality rate can reach 90 per cent - but the current outbreak is about 55 per cent.
• Incubation period is two to 21 days.
• There is no vaccine or cure.
• Supportive care such as rehydrating patients who have diarrhoea and vomiting can help recovery.
• Fruit bats are considered to be virus' natural host