Preventing Dehydration in Ebola Outbreaks
September 19, 2014
For Immediate Release
Sept 22, 2014
For More Info: Charlene Riikonen 843-842-2600
PREVENTING DEHYDRATION in EBOLA OUTBREAKS
Hilton Head, S.C. Almost five tons of CeraLyte® rice-based oral rehydration solution (ORS) was donated by Cera Products, Inc. of Hilton Head, SC to humanitarian organization Direct Relief to send to Liberia and Sierra Leone to help keep Ebola patients from dehydration and shock, enabling them to have a better chance to fight the disease. CeraLyte ORS helps reduce fluid losses as it hydrates and provides needed calories for the people affected by the virus. The value of these gifts was nearly $20,000. Another donation by Cera Products of an additional 12 pallets, with a retail value of $52,142, is being made later this month.
“Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal disease. An outbreak of this deadly virus – considered to be the worst one in history – is now centered in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and also spread to Senegal and Nigeria.
Direct Relief has been mobilizing and shipping medical goods, such as CeraLyte ORS, and personal protective equipment to help government agencies, private charitable organizations and facilities, and on-the-ground health workers combat this public health emergency. Eleven emergency shipments valued at over $6 million (wholesale value) have already gone to the frontlines to treat people exhibiting the virus and to protect the local healthcare workers on the frontlines. This includes the largest shipment in Direct Relief’s history – more than 100 tons of aid – airlifted from New York on Sept. 20 to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
In-country partners to distribute the supplies include the Ministries of Health in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Africare, Christian Aid Ministries, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation, Last Mile Health, Meddical Research Centre, National Drug Service and Wellbody Alliance and others.
Critical to these efforts are continued tax-deductible gifts and corporate medical supplies, such as CeraLyte ORS. Direct Relief is accepting approved donations at its Santa Barbara, Calif. Headquarters and/or financial support via its website, www.DirectRelief.org. Gifts can be unrestricted or designated, such as for ORS like CeraLyte, or other URGENT needs for people affected by Ebola and the healthcare workers taking care of them.
Based in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Cera Products has completed extensive R&D. Its pioneering rice-based oral electrolyte blends are to correct dehydration, restoring fluid volume and cell balance for various medical conditions. CeraLyte is widely used by the U.S. military, primarily in medical kits and in field hospitals. See www.ceraproductsinc.com
Direct Relief is a leading medical relief organization, active in all 50 states and in 70 countries and is the only U.S. nonprofit to obtain Verified Accredited Wholesale Distributor (VAWD) © certification by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. The organization has been among the world’s largest medical suppliers in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, has top charity ratings, including four-star and “top-notch” rating from Charity Navigator, and a 100% fundraising efficiency rating from Forbes magazine. For more information or to donate, visit www.Direct Relief.org or call 1-800-676-1638.
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