Germany, France Plan Airlifts To Ebola-Stricken Countries: Reports

Germany and France are to establish joint airlifts to countries in West Africa that are currently battling the deadly Ebola virus, Agence France-Presse reported Friday.

Germany intends to "establish airlifts from Dakar from where deliveries can be made to all three countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea," German Chancellor Angela Merkel is quoted as saying by the agency.

Berlin will team up with French authorities to create a logistics chain from Germany, AFP reported, citing a Bundeswehr spokesman. The airlift could move about 100 tons of medical and aid supplies per week.

The countries will send four Transall C-160 planes carrying up to 100 troops to Dakar, Senegal, or, alternatively, the city of Bamako in Mali, the agency reported.

The worst Ebola outbreak in history and the first to have occurred in West Africa has claimed the lives of over 2,600 people, according to the latest WHO estimates. The epidemic began in southern Guinea in February and spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal. A separate outbreak, unrelated to the one in West Africa, is taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ebola virus is transmitted through direct contact with the body fluids of those infected and there is no officially approved medication for the disease as of today. Several countries, including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are currently working on vaccines. (Cihan/Ria Novosti)