The United States government has announced an additional $242 million to strengthen Ebola response and preparedness efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and other affected countries. The new allocation brings the United States’ direct assistance towards combating the outbreak to more than $512 million. It said the funding would enable implementing partners to expand ongoing response activities while complementing wider humanitarian support to countries affected by the outbreak. The Department described the United States as the largest financial contributor to the international Ebola response and called on other development partners and donors to provide additional resources to support containment efforts. It said it continued to coordinate with the CDC, the lead federal agency for the Ebola response, to prevent the virus from reaching the United States.