Belgium to send B-Fast team to Ebola areas

The Belgian emergency team B-Fast is preparing to depart for Guinea with a mobile laboratory to aid in the fight against Ebola, announced Secretary of Defence Steven Vandeput (N-VA). The eight-member team will leave as soon as the area has been declared safe by the French army, reports De Morgen.

The B-Fast team was not deployed immediately following the outbreak of the epidemic, as it is more specialised in brief interventions rather than long-term crisis situations. Also, the team includes emergency doctors who work in Belgian hospitals and cannot be gone for an extended period.

However, the B-Fast team is ideal for the rapid transport and set-up of a mobile laboratory in the Ebola-affected region. The lightweight, mobile B-Life lab is the result of a joint effort between the defence department and the Université Catholique de Louvain. Eight team members, including an infectious disease specialist and several nurses, will travel with the lab and stay in Guinea for two months.