Although it has faded somewhat from the headlines, the fight to contain and halt the spread of deadly Ebola infections continues.
The second contingent of Canadian military personnel has arrived today in Kerry Town, Sierra Leone, south of the capital Freetown.
The contingent of military doctors, nurses, medics and specialized support staff. After handoff from the first contingent of some 40 members still in place, the Canadian staff will continue their frontline work in cooperation with UK personnel in treating essential care and aid to local and international healthcare workers, and local civilians.
While the first contingent of medical personnel was from Petawawa Ontario, the second unit involves staff from bases across Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces effort is being called Operation SIRONA,
This current outbreak is the deadliest since Ebola’s discovery in 1976. To date, Canada has committed over $110 million in health, humanitarian and security contributions to help fight the spread of Ebola. The Government of Canada has also provided in-kind support and donations of the Canadian-developed Ebola vaccine
Timeline:
- December 2013 – A young girl died of the disease in south-eastern Guinea.
- March 2014 – Cases were first reported to Guinea’s Ministry of Health and Médecins sans frontières.
- May 2014 – The disease was confirmed to have crossed Guinea’s border into Liberia and Sierra Leone.
- 8 August 2014 – The WHO declared an international public health emergency.
- 18 September 2014 – The UN Security Council conducted its first emergency meeting on a public health crisis and declared the Ebola outbreak a threat to peace and security.
- 19 September 2014 – The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted resolution 69/1 in support of creating the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER)
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