USAID Administrator Shah Travels to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Senegal

WASHINGTON, October 10, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Senegal Oct. 13-17, to meet with national and local officials, aid organizations, and staff coordinating the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. USAID is helping to coordinate an aggressive U.S. Government response to the Ebola outbreak that leverages broad expertise and personnel from several federal departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and State, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since the first cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa in March 2014, the United States has mounted a whole-of-government response to contain and stop the epidemic, while also taking prudent measures at home. In West Africa, U.S. efforts have focused on controlling the spread of the disease; bringing in labs for specimen testing; supporting the construction and management of Ebola treatment units; airlifting critical relief supplies; strengthening emergency response systems of the affected governments; supporting burial teams that are safely managing human remains to prevent transmission; and spearheading mass public awareness campaigns with communities that describe how to prevent, detect, and treat Ebola.

For more information about USAID's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, visit http://www.usaid.gov/ebola.