U.N: Ebola a "threat to international peace and security"

(Vatican Radio/agencies) The United Nations  Security Council has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a "threat to international peace and security."  The death toll from the deadly virus has  hit 2,630. 

France has announced it will send military doctors, civil protection agency staff and air support to affected areas. It will set up a military hospital in the remote Forest Region of southeastern Guinea, where the outbreak was first detected last March.

Since then, the World Health Organization says the virus has infected at least 5,357 people mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. It has also spread to Senegal and Nigeria.

Calling the outbreak an “unprecedented health emergency,” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he will create a special mission to combat the disease and deploy staff in the worst-affected states.

The international mission he said, “will have five priorities: stopping the outbreak, treating the infected, ensuring essential  services, preserving stability and preventing further outbreaks."