MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Canada is planning to allocate additional 30 million Canadian dollars ($27 million) for fighting Ebola virus in West Africa, CBC News reported.
Apart from the funds that Canada will send to the existing aid agencies, more equipment, such as mobile laboratories, will be delivered, CBC News said Wednesday.
Transport Canada will also be on full alert to deliver medical staff from the International Centre for Infectious Diseases in Winnipeg if an Ebola case is registered in Canada, according to the agency's sources.
By now, Canada has already committed 35 million Canadian dollars (around $31 million) to the World Health Organization (WHO) and aid agencies in West Africa. Moreover, Canada has provided personal protective equipment worth of $2.5 million.
Canada has also offered donating its experimental vaccine, which is under clinical trials currently, to the WHO.
The current Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea, and spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. The first case of Ebola virus infection inside the United States was confirmed earlier this month. The patient died, and two medical workers have subsequently been infected with the virus.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the bodily fluids of those infected. Though there is no officially approved medication for the disease, several countries are currently working on developing Ebola vaccines.
According to WHO, almost 9,000 people are currently infected, with the disease killing around 4,500 so far.
