The announcement comes as health officials warn that the outbreak has become the fourth-largest Ebola epidemic on record, with hundreds of confirmed cases and dozens of deaths reported.

The Ebola outbreak in Central Africa could grow to 20,000 cases or more, depending on how quickly infected people are isolated to slow the spread. The U.S.

Travel bans and conflict have disrupted supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo, leaving health workers without Ebola tests and protective gear needed to contain the outbreak.

The United States ​will give nearly $38 million in ‌additional funding toward its Ebola response efforts, bringing the total so far to more ​than $200 million in direct funding, ​the State Department said in a ⁠statement on Friday.

But these events also serve as a reminder that outbreaks are rarely controlled by vaccines alone. While vaccines play an important role in reducing the spread of disease, infectious disease outbreaks have historically been brought under control through a combination of public health measures,

Tensions are running high as officials fight to stop the rapid spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where aid workers tell the ABC they are already playing catch-up with the deadly disease.

The US CDC on Friday urged strong public health interventions against the current Ebola outbreak, citing their models that show it could otherwise rival the scale of the 2014 West Africa outbreak.

In one worst-case scenario projected, more than 20,000 cases would occur within three months if only 1 in 5 infected people are identified and isolated within two days.

Mining has been the lifeblood of this remote Congolese hill town for decades. Now, it is fueling the spread of a devastating virus.

New modeling from the CDC shows that if measures aren't taken immediately, this outbreak could sicken more than 20,000 people in the next three months.

The World Health Organization chief says Congo's Ebola outbreak had a head start but that testing is improving, even as violence plagues the region.

In a town at the center of eastern Congo's Ebola outbreak, some patients have arrived too late. Mongbwalu has so far been the hardest hit town, and health authorities have faced intense resistance from the population –a tent set up to serve as an Ebola treatment center was burned by the population,