Chinese medical supplies arrive in Ebola-affected Sierra Leone

A Chinese plane carrying emergency humanitarian supplies for Sierra Leone arrived in the country's capital Freetown on Monday afternoon, as part of effort to help the country contain the spread of Ebola.

China announced on Sunday it would dispatch three expert teams and medical supplies to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to help the three West African countries fight against the outbreak of the virus.

This is the second batch of Ebola relief provided by China to West Africa. China delivered its first batch of supplies in May, mostly for disease prevention, control and treatment, to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau.

The chartered plane left Shanghai in east China on Sunday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping sent messages on Sunday separately to Guinean President Alpha Conde, Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, expressing sympathy and solicitude for human and economic losses caused by the Ebola outbreak.

The Ebola virus, which spreads through bodily fluids with those infected, has killed 961 people and affected 1,779 others this year in West Africa, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The World Health Organization warned on Friday that the disease is now a "public health emergency of international concern" and called for a coordinated international response to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola.