U.S. to send 3,000 military staff to battle West Africa's Ebola epidemic



Time now for a look through the international headlines we’re following this Wednesday morning. For that, we turn to our Eunice Kim, standing by at the NewsCenter. Good morning, Eunice. U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for a more concerted global response to contain the Ebola epidemic… and that includes sending thousands of troops to West Africa?

That’s right, Mark. We’re talking about some 3-thousand military personnel… some of whom will be given the task of training 5-hundred health care workers PER WEEK… as the U.S. tries to catch up to the damage already done by the spiraling epidemic.
They’ll also build more treatment centers, isolation centers, and offer logistical and engineering support to combat Ebola… as President Obama said it remains a national security priority for the United States.
It remains to be seen, however, whether it will be enough to impact the outbreak that is so entrenched.
The United Nations now says containing the West African epidemic would cost nearly $1-billion dollars to keep it from turning into a “human catastrophe”, adding that the number of Ebola cases could begin to double every three weeks.
Nearly 5-thousand cases have been logged in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal since March… with about half being identified in the last three weeks.


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