U.S. Backs Plan for African Center for Disease Control

The United States Monday threw its weight behind an African Union plan to set up a regional disease control center in the wake of the deadly Ebola crisis.

Meeting with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the chairwoman of the African Union, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed a deal to support what he called a "very bold plan" for an African center for disease control to be opened in Addis Ababa.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was set up "70 years ago in response to an epidemic of malaria," Kerry said as he met Zuma at the State Department.

"An African counterpart is already clearly needed, not just because of Ebola, but to cope with health threats of every kind and to enable countries throughout the region to share information and build the capacity to prevent, detect, and treat outbreaks of epidemic disease."

Under the memorandum of understanding the United States will provide expert technical help for a surveillance and response unit as well as an emergency operations center, and fellowships for African epidemiologists to work in the center.

Zuma said the aim of the new center was to strengthen "the capacities of the African countries to combat disease, sharing information, build collective capacities not only against Ebola... but also HIV, TB, malaria, and many other diseases."

She thanked the United States for its help in combatting the recent Ebola outbreak, adding however "of course, the epidemic is not over and so we still need to continue working and being vigilant."

"With the support of the international community, we think it would be possible to see this epidemic behind us," Zuma said.

"However, we must not let up until all the three countries are Ebola-free. In fact, I don’t think one country can actually be Ebola-free until all of them are."

The Ebola outbreak that erupted in West Africa last year ravaged Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, killing more than 10,600 people in the past 15 months.

The number of new infections has now fallen, and the World Health Organization said last week that the risk of international spread appeared to be receding.