US pledges $267m more to fight Ebola in central Africa

New York [US], September 25: The US State Department on Wednesday pledged an additional $267 million ​toward fighting the Ebola outbreak in Africa, as health authorities battle to get the deadly virus under control.
Senior State ​Department officials announced the funding on ​the sidelines of the UN General ⁠Assembly, where they hoped other countries ​would pledge new funds toward a target ​of $2 billion to deal with the disease, mainly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The ​outbreak was detected in May and ​is already the second most lethal on record, behind one ⁠West Africa from 2014 to 2016.
The pledge brings the Trump administration's commitment to tackling the outbreak to $886 million, including $107 ​million from ​the Department ⁠of Health and Human Services in addition to State Department ​funding.
The assistance would help countries ​contain ⁠the outbreak at its source, one of the officials said, such as for ⁠building ​treatment facilities, providing diagnostics ​and medical countermeasures for health workers in the field.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation