Registered nurse from Ontario leaving Thursday to join fight against deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Fergus woman will be part of 10-member Samaritan's Purse team in Liberia

CALGARY, July 9, 2014 /CNW/ - A third Canadian is preparing to join Samaritan's Purse's 10-member team of North American doctors and nurses providing urgently needed medical care to victims of the deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus in recorded history. It has killed more than 450 people in West Africa so far.

Dorothy McEachern, a registered nurse from Fergus Ontario, who also served with Samaritan's Purse during its response to the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti, will fly to Liberia on Thursday, July 10. She will join physician Dr. Azaria Marthyman of Victoria and registered nurse Karen Daniels of Vancouver, both of whom left for Liberia in late June.

Samaritan's Purse is working with the Liberian government, the United Nations, and other organizations to combat the Ebola outbreak. The Christian relief and development organization has hired more than 50 Liberians to help with its medical relief effort at several locations in Liberia, including ELWA hospital in the capital city of Monrovia and several remote areas along the border with Guinea.

Ebola causes massive internal bleeding and has a mortality rate of 60%-90%. The current outbreak began in Guinea in February and soon spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. It appeared under control by May before returning with a vengeance in early June. Samaritan's Purse's multi-faceted response has included a national preventative education campaign that has reached almost 400,000 people so far.

Available for Interview:
The news media is welcome to interview Dorothy McEarchern before her Thursday departure at 3:00 p.m. EDT from Toronto. She is available at 519-830-1485 or [email protected].

Donations Needed
Anyone wishing to support Samaritan's Purse's emergency relief work in Liberia can call 1-866-663-6500 or visit SamaritansPurse.ca. As a Christian organization, we also welcome Canadians' prayers.

About Samaritan's Purse Canada
Samaritan's Purse Canada is an international Christian relief and development organization working in about 40 countries to help victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine, and persecution. The Christian charity also operates the well-known Operation Christmas Child program that sends gift-filled shoeboxes to needy children around the world annually. In addition, we build and install thousands of life-saving BioSand Water Filters in the developing world. For more information, visit SamaritansPurse.ca.

SOURCE: Samaritan's Purse Canada

For further information: Media Inquiries: Jeff Adams, Director, Communications and Creative Services, 1-800-663-6500 #8723 (work) or 403-615-8747 (mobile), [email protected]