ADB grant for Ebola surveillance

The African Development Bank (ADB) reported on Wednesday it had approved a grant of US $500,000 to finance an emergency humanitarian assistance programme for surveillance of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Gabon. The grant will supplement the actions of the government and its partners to enhance surveillance and epidemiological control of Ebola, care for patients and mobilisation for disease prevention. "The operation will help to improve the health of the Gabonese people through a better control of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever [and] enable the Government and Red Cross to pursue social mobilisation," the ADB said. "The grant will enable the Government to procure means for data collection, train staff, and procure communication equipment. It will also finance an epidemiologist specialised in health surveillance, purchase of pharmaceutical products, special equipment and supplies for health staff, protection kits for beds, equipment for incineration and destruction of biohazards," it added. Since 1972, outbreaks of the Ebola type hemorrhagic fever have been identified in the Central African sub-region, namely in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Congo, the ADB said. The latest Ebola fever outbreak in Ogooue-Ivindo region of Gabon, near the border with Congo, ended in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. According to WHO, Ebola hemorrhagic fever is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids of infected persons or other primates. There is no cure and between 50 percent and 90 percent of victims die.