Ebola Epidemic 'Spiraling Out of Control,' Obama Says
"We can't dawdle on this one," the president warns.
— -- Declaring the Ebola outbreak a "threat to global security," President Obama today announced a significant American military effort in West Africa to help bring the spread of the deadly disease under control.
"We have to act fast. We can't dawdle on this one," Obama said during a visit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
"It is spiraling out of control, it's getting worse, it's spreading exponentially," he said. "If the outbreak is not stopped now we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected."
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The president said there were "profound implications" for the U.S., even if there was no immediate threat of an outbreak on American soil.
Obama said he has ordered the deployment of 3,000 U.S. military personnel to West Africa to take the lead in coordinating an international response, facilitate logistics and engineering.
The Pentagon is establishing a military command center in Liberia to be directed by an American general, who arrived today, Obama said.
In the next few weeks, U.S. service members will establish 17 treatment facilities with 100 beds each, train as many as 500 health care workers per week in proper care and containment techniques, and orchestrate a community messaging campaign about the disease, the White House said.
The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps will also deploy 65 officers to Liberia –- including administrators, clinicians and support staff -- to manage and staff a previously announced Department of Defense hospital to care for stricken health care workers, the White House said.
U.S. personnel will not directly provide care to infected patients in the general population, officials said.
Before visiting the CDC, Obama met at the White House with American doctor and Ebola survivor Kent Brantly, who was flown out of Liberia with government assistance, treated with an experimental serum at Emory University Hospital and recovered.
"He looks great, he looks strong, and we're incredibly grateful to him and his family for the service he rendered," Obama said of the meeting.
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