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| UK ship with Ebola aid docks in Sierra Leone | UK ship with Ebola aid docks in Sierra Leone |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A UK ship has arrived in Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak in the West African country. | A UK ship has arrived in Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak in the West African country. |
| Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus is carrying food, medical equipment and 32 pick-up trucks, to help keep hard-pressed Ebola treatment centres going. | |
| Also on board are doctors, nurses and military personnel. The ship is currently docked in Freetown. | Also on board are doctors, nurses and military personnel. The ship is currently docked in Freetown. |
| Ebola has killed almost 5,000 people and infected more than 10,000 in West Africa since the start of the year. | Ebola has killed almost 5,000 people and infected more than 10,000 in West Africa since the start of the year. |
| RFA Argus, which is also equipped with three Royal Navy Merlin helicopters, set sail from Falmouth in Cornwall on 17 October, and the BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding said it would act as an offshore base for the aid effort. | |
| 'Determination to lead' | 'Determination to lead' |
| At 28,000 tonnes, the ship is one of the Royal Navy's larger support vessels, but despite having its own onboard hospital, it will not be used to directly treat anyone who has come into contact with the virus. | At 28,000 tonnes, the ship is one of the Royal Navy's larger support vessels, but despite having its own onboard hospital, it will not be used to directly treat anyone who has come into contact with the virus. |
| If any of the crew or the Royal Marines on board become infected they would be kept in isolation, and then taken to one of the clinics on the ground. | If any of the crew or the Royal Marines on board become infected they would be kept in isolation, and then taken to one of the clinics on the ground. |
| The ship also transported 35 pallets of ration packs, and over 5,000 bottles of water, as well as a water osmosis plant, the Royal Navy said. | The ship also transported 35 pallets of ration packs, and over 5,000 bottles of water, as well as a water osmosis plant, the Royal Navy said. |
| The UK is leading the international response to the disease in Sierra Leone, where it has pledged £125m in aid. | The UK is leading the international response to the disease in Sierra Leone, where it has pledged £125m in aid. |
| In all, the UK is deploying about 750 military personnel to help tackle Ebola in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. | In all, the UK is deploying about 750 military personnel to help tackle Ebola in Sierra Leone, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said. |
| Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has described the RFA Argus mission as a sign of the nation's "determination to lead the world's efforts to tackle the Ebola crisis". | Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has described the RFA Argus mission as a sign of the nation's "determination to lead the world's efforts to tackle the Ebola crisis". |
| There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which is transmitted through sweat, blood and saliva, and has a 21-day incubation period. | |
| An appeal for the Ebola crisis in West Africa has been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), and it marks the first time the committee - a group of 13 UK aid charities - has sought funds over a disease outbreak. | |
| Appeals will be made by all the main UK broadcasters on Thursday, and the government has said it will match the first £5m of donations made by the public to the DEC appeal. | |
| More than 13,700 people have been sickened in the Ebola outbreak, the vast majority in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. | |
| Ebola virus disease (EVD) | |
| Ebola special report |