(VOVworld) – A spokesman for the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the US is sending extra personnel and resources to Nigeria, which has declared a national emergency as it battles a deadly outbreak of Ebola for the first time.

An MSF doctor prepares to enter the high-risk zone in the Ebola treatment center in Kailahun, Sierra Leone (Photo: doctorswithoutborders.org)

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammon convened a meeting of the emergency committee, known as Cobra, to find solutions in response to the possible spread of the disease. The British government announced an additional aid of more than 5 million USD to help improve the effectiveness of the medical systems in Sierra Leon, and Liberia and help the WHO, UNICEF, and the International Rescue Committee to prevent the disease from spreading on a large scale. To date, the UK has contributed a total of 8.5 million USD in an attempt to stamp out the Ebola epidemic. The European Commission declared an additional funding of 10.6 million USD for the region through the WHO, the ‘Doctors Without Borders’ or MSF, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, bringing the total amount of aids to 16 million USD. In a couple of days, the EU will install a mobile laboratory in Sierra Leone.