Obama to send 3,000 US troops to Africa to fight Ebola
Iran Press TV
Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:58AM GMT
The United States will expand its response to the Ebola crisis in Africa by assigning 3,000 American military personnel to the afflicted region to lead the effort.
President Barack Obama will visit the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta on Tuesday to "represent" his commitment to the issue, a senior Obama administration official told reporters Monday.
"The significant expansion that the president will detail … really represents a set of areas where the US military will bring unique capabilities that we believe will improve the effectiveness of the entire global response," the unnamed official said.
The US plan will "ensure that the entire international response effort is more effective and helps to scale up to turn the tide in this crisis," he added.
The expanded US effort comes as health officials have concluded that the Ebola virus does not threaten the United States.
American healthcare workers Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writerbol both contracted the virus while working with patients in Liberia, in Western Africa. They were brought to the United States for treatment, and both have since recovered.
Another infected American, Dr. Richard A. Sacra, arrived in the US state of Nebraska earlier this month for treatment. He was also treating patients in Liberia when he became infected with the deadly virus.
The Ebola virus causes a severe and often fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and other mammals, known as Ebola virus disease. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches.
Typically, vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally.
AHT/AGB
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