The United States announced on Wednesday at the World Health Assembly in Geneva an additional up to $7-million to respond to the emerging outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This will bring US funding, which includes $5-million authorised by Secretary Mike Pompeo, to help combat the most recent outbreak of this deadly disease to a total of up to $8-million.  

The funds will support the World Health Organisation's plan to provide a rapid, localised outbreak control in the DRC. The plan consists of surveillance, case investigation, contact tracing, case management, safe burials, community engagement, and social mobilisation. 

The Embassy of the US in Pretoria said in a terse statement that it "commends the proactive efforts of the Congolese and our international partners to confront this outbreak and help prevent a global health crisis.  

"We welcome the contributions of our international partners and urge other countries to contribute to this effort, as well as to long-term global health security capacity building efforts aimed at preventing future crises."