EU steps up support to Burundi for fight against Ebola

ANKARA

The EU is stepping up assistance to Burundi with €465,000 ($516,000) to strengthen its fight against the deadly Ebola virus.

"To effectively fight the Ebola virus we do not only have to address the affected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo but also increase our efforts to prevent the disease from spreading to neighbouring countries like Burundi," EU Commissioner Christos Stylianides said in a statement on Wednesday.

Stylianides added the EU also supports Ebola preparedness measures in Burundi, including infection prevention and control.

"Everything possible must be done to avoid a further spread of the deadly virus," he added.

According to the statement, no Ebola cases have been detected in Burundi, but the threat has become increasingly urgent, with two newly confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ebola -- a tropical fever which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the DRC -- can be transmitted to humans via wild animals.

It can also spread through contact with body fluids of both infected people or of those who have succumbed to the virus.

Ebola caused global alarm in 2014 when the world's worst outbreak began in West Africa, killing more than 11,300 people and infecting an estimated 28,600 as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.