Satellites helping fight against Ebola for first time ever

British built satellites are now being used for the first time ever to help fight against the Ebola disease, it has been revealed.

The technology has now been used to map the spread of the disease and help aid workers plan the location of key resources after they were activated by the International Charter for Space and Major Disaster., the Sky News reported.

Business Secretary Vince Cable visited Surrey Satellites Technology, near Guildford, which has been building satellites for more than 30 years and has been heavily involved with this new mission.

A total of five satellites built at Surrey are currently in orbit and being used to map areas of West Africa.

Satellite images would be able to focus on the epidemic in Sierra Leone, for example, pinpointing areas which have been infected, places where people can get help or even highlighting the best routes to evacuate people.

If this mission proves successful, experts have said that satellites could be used more in the future to tackle public health emergencies.