The United States has pledged an additional $267 million to help contain the Ebola outbreak in central Africa, bringing Washington’s total commitment to the response to $886 million.
Senior US State Department officials announced the new funding on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, as health authorities work to bring the deadly virus under control.
US officials said they hoped the announcement would encourage other countries to contribute toward a $2 billion international funding target aimed largely at tackling the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The outbreak, first detected in May, has already become the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, surpassed only by the West African epidemic of 2014-2016.
The Trump administration’s total commitment now includes $107 million from the US Department of Health and Human Services, alongside funding provided through the State Department.
Officials said the assistance would support efforts to contain the disease at its source, including the construction of treatment facilities, expanded diagnostic capacity and medical countermeasures to protect health workers responding on the ground.
Health authorities across the region continue to work to curb transmission and prevent the outbreak from spreading further.
