Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Friday that Japan will provide $1.5 million in emergency grant aid via three international organizations to West African nations hit by the deadly Ebola virus, including Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The virus, which causes hemorrhagic fever and can have a fatality rate of up to 90 percent, is expected to continue spreading.
The announcement came four months after Japan extended an emergency grant aid worth about $520,000 to Guinea, which is also infected.
The $1.5 million in aid is to be disbursed via the World Health Organization, the U.N. Children's Fund and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and will be used for measures to prevent Ebola infections and to provide medical supplies.
The death toll from the Ebola outbreak stood at 1,069 as of Monday from 1,975 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of infection, according to WHO data. The outbreak, the deadliest on record, was first confirmed in Guinea in March.