EU, G7 pledge support amid DRC Ebola outbreak

The European Commission said on Wedensday that it was building on a support program worth some €493 million (roughly $580 million) in humanitarian aid and health security amid the latest Ebola outbreak centered around Ituri province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) .

This came a day after assembled leaders at the G7 summit in Evian, France appealed for a strong and coordinated international response to the outbreak, praising support efforts from the US, EU and others.

According to the DRC's government late on Tuesday, the outbreak of the comparatively rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebolavirus has led to 837 confirmed cases and 196 deaths — 29 of those cases in a period of 24 hours.

The European Commission said that its funds and aid was a mixture of "frontline medical support" for the immediate outbreak response, humanitarian assistance in the Great Lakes region and neighboring Uganda, vaccine and treatment research, and "longer-term work to improve prepardeness and health systems."

It said that European health authorities still deemed the risk to European citizens as low, but nevertheless officials stressed the importance of cooperation.

"This is a reminder that health security is shared security," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "Countries can better protect their citizens by acting together."

Hadja Lahbib, the relevant European Commissioner for crisis management, called the outbreak a "test of global solidarity."

"As some turn inward, the EU remains present, engaged, and a reliable partner," Lahbib said, before alluding to her recent visit to a treatment center in the outbreak area in DRC.