China factory well suited to help in Ebola fight China rushes help to Ebola-hit countries

BEIJING - China on Wednesday unveiled the details of its 4th batch of aid worth some $82 million to help African countrie's fight against the ebola virus.

According to Sun Jiwen, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, the latest aid package includes sending health experts to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - the three hardest-hit countries in the Ebola crisis - to help contain the epidemic and sending public health staff to train local doctors and nurses, as well as medical equipments and materials.

China will build a 100-bed treatment center in Liberia where the epidemic is most serious and send doctors and nurses there for its operation.

Moreover, China has pledged to donate $6 million to the UN Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund and launch a program for China-Africa public health cooperation to hold 12 training sessions on public health and epidemic prevention and control for the three epidemic-stricken countries, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States in 2015.

In Sierra Leone, Chinese medical team have tested about 1,000 blood samples and about half of them have been proved positive.

The Chinese medical team there is divided into two units, a holding center and a mobile laboratory. The lab receives the blood samples for testing whilst the holding center admits the suspected cases. Those that are proved positive are referred to a treatment center whilst the ones proved negative are referred to a hospital.

With the advent of the Chinese laboratory, testing time has been reduced and it has helped immensely in getting the positive cases to the treatment center, the Deputy Director of the China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention Gao Fu said.

In Liberia, the Chinese contingent of the UN Mission will help build an Ebola Quarantine and Control Center in the capital city of Monrovia.

Since the outbreak of the deadly disease, the Chinese government has offered three batches of emergency humanitarian relief worth 250 million yuan ($41 million) to help West Africa fight Ebola.

On the international arena, countries such as the United States, Algeria and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have actively taken various measures to contain the disease.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday approved a measure to place under a 21-day supervised isolation regimen all military service members returning from Ebola response efforts in West Africa.

According to a Pentagon statement, the order will apply to all military services that are contributing personnel to the fight against Ebola at its source.

Eleven American soldiers in northern Italy have been put under Ebola quarantine after returning to a US military installation there, from West Africa.

On Wednesday, a US government health official attended an Ebola meeting in Havana, Cuba, signalling the two nations' desire to cooperate in a fight against the deadly epidemic.

At the meeting on the region's response, Nelson Arboleda, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Central America, underscored the importance of regional cooperation.

Algeria on Wednesday decided to freeze business dealings with African countries hit by deadly Ebola virus, as a preventive step against the spread of the disease.

The World Health Organization warned recently that Algeria is among the North African nations that are threatened by the spread of Ebola, following some cases recorded in neighboring Mali and Mauritania.

European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) has said it will continue working with its partners to support Mali's efforts to fight against Ebola outbreak following last week's confirmation of the first case.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea said it will take emergency measures against Ebola spread and all foreigners who enter the country will be subjected to a 21-day quarantine at designated places and medical observation by health workers.