The Government has announced it is to give over €600,000 in funding to help battle the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

The money will go towards dispatching emergency supplies to Sierra Leone and Liberia, the two countries which have been worst affected by the epidemic.

Ireland will provide 42 tonnes of blankets, tents, mosquito nets and water tanks to the regions in an effort to halt the spread of the disease, which has so far killed more than 2,600 people.

Earlier this week Barack Obama made a commitment to send 3,000 American troops to help tackle the outbreak, which world health officials are now calling a crisis that's "unparalleled in modern times".

More than 20,000 people could become infected with the deadly Ebola virus, the World Health Organisation has claimed. Nearly 40% of the total number of reported cases have occurred within the past month