BOONE, N.C. — As cases of Ebola climb, Samaritan’s Purse is sending a disaster assistance response team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The nonprofit is also airlifting an Ebola Treatment Center and more than 34 tons of essential medical supplies to the region on Sunday. The urgent response aims to combat a deadly Ebola outbreak and protect health care providers in the region.
The 767 cargo plane will first land in Uganda, and the cargo will then be transported overland to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The team is made up of disaster response specialists, including an outbreak specialist, infection, prevention and control specialist and medical personnel. Their initial focus will involve establishing effective infection, prevention and control protocols for local mission hospitals and communities.
Samaritan’s Purse says it will also coordinate with the Ministry of Health to set up the treatment center, which will function as an emergency field hospital specifically adapted to treat patients as cases of Ebola climb in the nation.
Samaritan’s Purse has a history of responding to infectious diseases, including Ebola, cholera, diphtheria and COVID-19. During the height of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia in 2014, the organization opened an Ebola treatment center, providing hands-on patient care and combating infection rates through hygiene training and prevention education across affected communities. In 2018, Samaritan’s Purse established another Ebola Treatment Center in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it treated more than 600 patients.