Israel joins fight against Ebola epidemic in Africa

Jerusalem, Sep 22: Israel has joined the international effort to help combat the

outbreak across West Africa.

Doctors from the country's leading medical institutions and other healthcare professionals are being sent to Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Liberia to treat infected patients and help prevent spread of the deadly virus, Xinhua reported.

Two physicians are already in Cameroon on behalf of the foreign ministry in Jerusalem and others will be joining them in the near future, while a consignment of medicine and medical equipment will depart from Ben-Gurion International Airport this week.

Several nations and international organisations have come together to combat the worst Ebola outbreak in history, which has killed some 2,600 people and has infected around 5,300 in West Africa, the World Health Organization said.

Meanwhile, IsraAID, a humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises worldwide, will also send two teams of its own experts to Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone and Liberia later this week.

One team will assist in operating a programme for treating trauma to help the general population deal with fear of the disease and the stress created in its wake.

The other will instruct households in the use of hygiene kits to prevent further spread of the virus.

IANS