Ebola outbreak: Canada to contribute an additional $30M

Canada will contribute an additional $30 million to the fight against Ebola, CBC News has learned.

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The money will flow through established aid agencies.

Canada will contribute more equipment, such as mobile labs. Two mobile labs are already in Africa.

The latest contribution from Canada is part of a stepped-up international containment strategy to help local authorities limit the spread of Ebola in the region.

CBC News has also learned that in the event of a positive Ebola case in Canada, Transport Canada has been asked to provide planes from its fleet to quickly dispatch teams of experts from the Public Health Agency of Canada from Ottawa and the agency's national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg. 

So far, the Canadian government has committed $35 million to the World Health Organization, the UN and humanitarian aid groups working the effected region.

It has also donated up to $2.5 million worth of personal protective equipment.

As well, the Public Health Agency of Canada has sent two mobile labs to Sierra Leone. One of the lab teams is working with Médecins Sans Frontières to provide rapid diagnosis; the other is helping to improve infection prevention and control procedures.

Canada has also offered to donate a Canadian-developed experimental vaccine, currently undergoing clinical trials, to the WHO.

Amid growing global anxiety about the spread of the virus, Health Minister Rona Ambrose met Wednesday with representatives of the national nurses' union, which has complained of inadequate personal protective gear, training and preparedness for nurses, who would be on the front lines.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who expressed earlier Wednesday "his appreciation for Canada's contributions to date."