The European Union (EU) on Tuesday pledged an additional 16.5 million euros (18 million dollars) to support efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The package includes testing equipment worth five million euros and a five-million-euro contribution to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to strengthen disease surveillance and improve access to supplies, including protective equipment.

A further 6.5 million euros will be channeled through an initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support and equip frontline health workers.

EU Crisis Commissioner Hadja Lahbi, after meeting frontline health workers in Congo, said the response extended beyond containing the virus.

“This is about more than containing a virus. It is about proving that when lives are at stake, the world can still come together and act. Health security is a shared responsibility. Viruses do not stop at borders; they do not care about politics,” she said.

Officials said on Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had risen to more than 100.

Ebola is a life-threatening disease transmitted through direct physical contact and exposure to infected bodily fluids.

In May, the European Commission announced 15 million euros in humanitarian assistance for regions affected by the outbreak.

(dpa/NAN)