CRI听力:Chinese Ebola Aid Arrives in West Africa

A second batch of Chinese medical aid has arrived in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to help fight against the Ebola outbreak.

Meanwhile, one of three Chinese medical teams sent to West Africa has now arrived in Guinea to provide training to local doctors.

CRI's Min Rui has more.

Reporter:
The medical supplies, worth some 30 million yuan, have arrived in the three countries after being dispatched earlier this week.

The consignment includes protective clothing, disinfectants and medicines.

A shortage of full-body suits and clean surgical gloves has left local health workers potentially exposed to the virus.

Liberian acting foreign minister Sylvester Grigsby:

"We are very appreciative of these supplies. As you know this is a situation that is unknown to us and all of the help we can get from our friends is very much appreciated, very very much appreciated. This consignment as we see contain some protective gear and we hope that will help reinforce the efforts that we are making for containment."

China sent a first batch of supplies to help with Ebola back in May, mostly for disease prevention.

Meanwhile, a Chinese medical team has also arrived in Guinea to provide training to local doctors in the use of the protective gear from China.

Liu Linna is the head of the Chinese delegation in Guinea.

"And also the Chinese government takes many medicines and other protective equipment to help the local people. So, they are here to donate this equipment and also to teach them how to use this equipment."

Three Chinese medical teams have been sent this week to the three countries hit the worst by the deadly virus, namely Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

On the political front, Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent messages to the leaders of the affected countries, expressing sympathy and solace for their losses.

As of Monday, the World Health Organization is reporting over a thousand people have died from this current Ebola outbreak.

James Dorbor Jallah, the national coordinator for the Liberian National Taskforce on Ebola, is warning there is still a risk of a large-scale spread of the virus.

"People are dying and the disease is spreading very fast in congested communities, and this has got out of hand. It's now spread across the sub-region, this is very important, it has become a global crisis. "

A number of countries and regions, including Vietnam and Argentina, have already announced preventive measures to fend off potential Ebola outbreaks.

Cote d'Ivoire has also stopped its national airline from flying to any Ebola-infected countries in the region.

The WHO has so far not recommended a ban on international travel.

In a bid to try to contain the virus, the U.S. has sent an untested experimental Ebola drug to Liberia.

The drug has been given to two American aid workers who have been diagnosed with Ebola while treating patients.

So far, there is still no known cure for the virus, which can have a mortality rate as high as 90-percent, depending on the strain.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui.