The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Friday appealed for 500 million U.S. dollars in an expanded fight against the Ebola virus in West Africa over the next six months.

UNICEF said the funds would enable to continue tackling the two major drivers of Ebola transmission, lack of early isolation of patients and unsafe burials, while seizing opportunities to strengthen primary health care and social support systems in one of the poorest regions in the world.

Funding through the appeal would be used to promote life-saving behaviors including safe burial and early isolation practices through mass media campaigns, house to house campaigns and the training and deploying of around 60,000 community volunteers.

UNICEF will support up to 300 community care centers, observation centers and rapid isolation facilities in rural areas and to provide child protection services for up to 10,000 children whose parents or caregivers have died from Ebola.

"UNICEF is accelerating its work in the heart of communities to stop the outbreak, support early isolation of cases, promote more safe burials and raise continued awareness and understanding of the virus and its risks," UNICEF's Global Ebola Coordinator Peter Salama said in a statement.

In addition, the funds will be used to maintain or prepare to safely re-start basic health and education services. UNICEF noted about 200 million U.S. dollars has been secured so far.

"We can also seize an opportunity to help build robust primary health care and other social services that will provide long-term benefits for children and families, after Ebola has been defeated," he added.

UNICEF is also supporting countries at risk of Ebola outbreaks to be fully prepared, through proactive awareness raising campaigns and, in advance of any outbreak, supporting protocols for surveillance and case detection and management.

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