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France sends experts to West Africa help fight Ebola spread

by Reuters
Thursday, 4 September 2014 14:18 GMT

PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it would send about 20 specialists in biological disasters to West Africa to help stop the spread of Ebola after international health organisations lamented the lack of aid from the West to tackle the epidemic.

"In response to the World Health Organisation call ... France is increasing its help to fight the Ebola epidemic by sending a contingent of health and medical experts to Guinea," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The worst outbreak of the Ebola virus in history will not be brought under control unless wealthy nations dispatch specialized biological disaster response teams, the head of charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday.

France said it was sending about 20 experts from the EPRUS institute, which specialises in responding to health emergencies. The first five will leave on Friday, it said.

The experts would be based in Guinea for the next three months to coordinate with local authorities. (Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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