The U.S. plans to provide $50 million in funding to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to develop medical countermeasures to target the rare strain of Ebola causing the current outbreak in Africa, the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

Efforts to Combat the Outbreak

The funding will support laboratory studies and clinical trials of, as well as manufacturing for, medical countermeasure candidates for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. The new investment brings the State Department’s total direct funding of the Ebola response to $270 million, it said.

CEPI said it has already committed over $60 million to support a portfolio of four vaccine candidates under development, and is evaluating other options. Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, stated that the funding will help accelerate the development of life-saving countermeasures to control this outbreak and strengthen the world’s defenses against future Bundibugyo virus epidemics.

As of Friday, the Democratic Republic of Congo had reported 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has also spread to neighboring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases. The U.S. State Department has said it was working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the DRC and Uganda to mount a rapid and comprehensive response to the outbreak.

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.