France appointed a special envoy on Tuesday for the struggle against Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Yves Levy, a well-known specialist in immunology and former CEO of the National Institute for Health and Medical Research, will voluntarily guide and monitor every aspect of the French response, strengthen ties with local authorities and non-governmental organizations and support scientific studies, according to the French Foreign Ministry.
"In view of this very troubling situation, France is determined to increase its contribution to international efforts," the ministry said in a statement.
The appointment came after Minister for Europe and International Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit to DRC on May 20, where he announced the revival of a long-term bilateral partnership in health sector, with a war against the Ebola epidemic as a priority.
The epidemic virus has killed 1,668 since the outbreak began in August 2018, according to World Health Organization (WHO), with the epidemic limited to Beni and Butembo regions, northeast of the country.
France recalled that the epidemic is the "most serious" ever seen in the world, after the 2014 global alarm in West Africa, where more than 11,300 people died and an estimated 28,600 were infected as it swept through Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Despite efforts by Congolese authorities and the WHO, the response to the epidemic is being hampered by several factors including the difficult security situation in the affected zone, the ministry said.
Ebola -- a tropical fever which first appeared in 1976 in Sudan and the DRC -- can be transmitted to humans from wild animals.
It can also reportedly spread through contact with body fluids, infected persons or of those who have succumbed to the virus.
