Shanxi province sent three public health experts to the Ebola-stricken West African country of Togo on Jan 5 for a two-month work project to prevent and control hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola by providing training for 500 local medical practitioners, healthcare workers, officials and volunteers. The three experts are Shang Linping, from the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, and Li Xuemin and Yuan Chenli, from Shanxi's Center for Disease Control and Prevention. They are all veteran professionals in disease prevention and control.

This is the first international mission for Shanxi's public health team. Its National Health and Family Planning Commission has been providing technical assistance, with more than 800,000 yuan ($1.3 million) worth of equipment, disinfectants and detection devices.

Since the outbreak of this deadly virus, China has made four deliveries of humanitarian aid to Ebola-stricken areas since March 2014.

The Shanxi disease control center's head, Chen Liming, explained that the province will strengthen its own disease detection and emergency services to prevent the virus from spreading in Shanxi.

Edited by Michael Thai