Over 100 Public Health England staff fighting Ebola in Africa

More than 100 UK doctors are now fighting the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, new figures reveal.

A total of 111 Public Health England (PHE) staff members have been dispatched abroad to help tackle the devastating disease, with medical experts being sent to work in labs in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, while seven individuals have been chosen to assist with the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.

Professor Paul Cosford, director for health protection and medical director at PHE, who was in Sierra Leone earlier this year, commented: "We at PHE have a commitment to protecting the nation's health and wellbeing and, ultimately, the best way to protect the UK public will be to help bring the outbreak under control at its source."

Furthermore, around 400 additional PHE staff have been working to fight the disease in Britain, helping to screen travellers at airports and tracing individuals who may have been in contact with the Ebola infection.