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Medical Aid Departs for 19 Countries, Support Prepped for Marburg Virus Response, and More

News

Operational Update

Medications are prepped for health facilities in Ethiopia in April 2025. Direct Relief is currently preparing a three-ton shipment of requested medical aid for the country's health system as it fights an outbreak of Marburg Virus. The shipment contains personal protective equipment, supplies, and medications. (Direct Relief photo)
By Staff

Over the past week, Direct Relief has delivered 741 shipments of requested medical aid to 49 U.S. states and territories and 19 countries worldwide. The shipments contained 6 million defined daily doses of medication.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included rare disease treatments, personal protective equipment, nutritional products, antibiotics, and more.

Supporting Marburg Virus Response in Ethiopia

An outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease, a highly dangerous hemorrhagic fever in the same family of viruses as Ebola, has killed at least eight people in southern Ethiopia – the country’s first outbreak.

Thirteen cases have been identified thus far, including the eight deaths.

Because MVD has no approved treatment or vaccine, doctors focus on early supportive care, including rehydration and management of symptoms, to improve the chances of survival. Preventing contamination, screening patients, and preserving lab specimens for viral DNA testing are also vital to controlling the spread of infectious diseases like MVD, and the World Health Organization has a team working with the health system in the country.

Direct Relief is preparing a shipment of over three tons of medical aid for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health. Officials have requested personal protective equipment, essential medicines, and other medical supplies. The organization continues to monitor the outbreak, in contact with the Ministry of Health and the Oromia Physicians Association.

Four medical ultra-deep freezers provided by Direct Relief, stationed at hospitals in the Ethiopian cities of Jinka and Hawassa, are playing a vital role in helping officials trace the deadly disease. Because MVD has no vaccine and is highly contagious, careful screening – testing all potentially affected patients – contact tracing, and other containment measures are especially vital.

Ultra-deep freezers provided by Direct Relief are prepared for transport to Ethiopian hospitals. As Ethiopia confronts an outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease, refrigerators placed at two hospitals are being used to store PCR samples used for screening and sequencing. (Courtesy photo)

The freezers, five in total, arrived in the country about five weeks ago.

“The timing was perfect,” said Joseph Zeleke, who owns a medical equipment company in California and coordinates many charitable medical donations to his native Ethiopia, working closely with the country’s health system.

“There’s a huge need for medical equipment” at Ethiopian health facilities, he explained.

Zeleke previously played an active role in coordinating humanitarian aid to the Tigray Region during the Northern Ethiopia Conflict, which killed hundreds of thousands of civilians as well as soldiers between 2020 and 2022. At the time, violence and instability made it extremely difficult to transport medicine and supplies to the most affected areas.

“Now our focus is on the Marburg virus,” he said.

Currently, hospitals are testing more than 100 patients a day, Zeleke explained – a significant responsibility that requires providers to keep samples stable for PCR testing and carefully maintain any positive specimens for genetic testing.

“It basically helps preserve the viral material so the labs can run accurate diagnostics throughout the outbreak,” explained Dr. Jeffrey Samuel, a Doctor of Pharmacy and Direct Relief’s Africa regional director.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 700 shipments containing 2.6 million doses of medication this past week to organizations, including the following:

  • Renae l Hobbs, Tennessee
  • Union Gospel Mission of Yakima, Washington
  • The Agape Clinic, Texas
  • El Proyecto Del Barrio, California
  • Mercy Medical Clinic, Kentucky
  • Guadalupe Clinic, Kansas
  • Lifecare Family Health and Dental Center, Ohio
  • Volunteers in Medicine, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
  • Findley Foundation Inc., dba Findley Medical Clinic, Wisconsin
  • Fairview Community Health Center, Kentucky

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 3.5 million defined daily doses of medication, totaling 46,865 lbs., to countries including the following:

  • Honduras
  • India
  • Ecuador
  • Ethiopia
  • Jamaica
  • Paraguay
  • Pakistan
  • Panama

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 28.3K shipments to 2,706 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 90 countries. These shipments contained 301 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $1.9 billion wholesale, totaling 4 million lbs.

IN THE NEWS

Direct Relief Named TIME’s Dreamer of the Year – TIME

Direct Relief Earns Top Charity Rating for 2025 – KEYT

Direct Relief Recognized for Contribution to Save Our Boys and Girls Foundation – The Jamaica Observer

Why Improving Power Resilience in Healthcare is a Matter of Life and Death – Enlit

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