A Canberra company has been contracted by the US government to help keep Liberia free of Ebola for the next six months, with other government contracts looming.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From its headquarters in Deakin, Aspen Medical has been overseeing projects in West Africa since early 2014.
The company won a $20 million contract with the Australian government in November to provide a 100-bed treatment centre in Sierra Leone.
Aspen Medical's executive director Glenn Key said staff would remain in the region after a contract with a US company on behalf of USAID was renewed.
"We were contacted by a company called PAE who said USAID are coming out with an expression of interest for someone to take over Ebola clinics in Liberia," he said
"I was on the phone to our doctor in Liberia straight away and we put together a proposal for the contract that we eventually won."
More than 4700 people have died from Ebola in Liberia with 10,600 people infected, making it the worst affected country in West Africa.
Mr Key said Aspen Medical had also been contracted to assist the development of an Ebola vaccination in West Africa for the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
"There has recently been a breakthrough involving Ebola proteins and they are working to develop a vaccination," he said.
"We have won the contract to run the two vaccination development centres; one in Sierra Leone and one in Liberia for USAMRID."
Mr Keys said he was confident new contracts to fight Ebola would be announced in coming months.
"I think every Australian should be immensely proud of what we have done and it's not a political thing. This is a humanitarian issue and a great piece of work to be involved," he said.
Mr Key said the Aspen Medical's investment in fighting Ebola in West Africa would strengthen their ability to confront other infection diseases in the Asia-Pacific region.
"We've now got all of those people in Australia who have been trained in infectious disease training, have been on the ground, have worked in really challenging environments," he said.
