Turkey To Send Medical Aid To African Countries

Turkey will send 2.5 million Turkish lira worth of medical aid to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to fight the deadly Ebola virus, according to a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.



The first batch of medical aid is scheduled to arrive in Guinea's capital, Conakry, on Wednesday, the statement said.



The other shipments will be made to Sierra Leone and Liberia on Jan. 30, the statement added.



Turkey's Health Ministry and the country's emergency relief agency, AFAD, worked on an updated list of medical materials needed.



More than 20,000 people have contracted Ebola in the three hardest-hit West African countries, namely Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.



As of last December, some 8,000 people had succumbed to the virus in these three countries, according to the World Health Organization.



Ebola, formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe -- often fatal -- illness in humans.



The virus can be transmitted to people from wild animals, but can also spread via human-to-human transmission.



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