President Barack Obama says the outbreak is “spiraling out of control,” must be put an end to immediately

Sep 17, 2014 06:48 GMT  ·  By

This past September 16, Obama announced to the world that the US was to join the fight against the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Thus, the country is to send 3,000 troops to this part of the world, and also invest a total of $750 million (€579 million) in efforts to contain the epidemic.

“The world knows how to fight this disease. We know how to care for those who contract it. But we have to act fast. We can't dawdle on this one,” the US President said during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Just how bad is the ongoing Ebola outbreak?

The first cases of Ebola disease were documented in Guinea back in December 2013. Soon enough, the virus was reported in Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Since the outbreak's debut until present day, some 5,000 people have been infected and 2,400 have died.

Over a month ago, on August 8, when the death toll was around 930, the World Health Organization issued a press release saying that West Africa's Ebola epidemic was not only an “extraordinary event,” but also the largest to have ever been documented in history.

Now that thousands more people have died, it seems that saying that the Ebola outbreak is an “extraordinary event” does not even begin to cover the severity of the situation. As President Obama put it, the epidemic is very much “spiraling out of control.”

President Obama's plan to fight the ongoing epidemic

Information shared with the public says that, of the 3,000 military personnel President Obama wishes to send to West Africa, the majority will be stationed in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. This country was chosen because it is the one that has until now been hit the hardest by the outbreak.

The troops are expected to get to work setting up a total of 17 new hospitals in regions affected by the epidemic, and see to it that transportation of equipment and health care workers is properly coordinated and that they get to the people who need them the most.

Given the severity of the outbreak, the US military troops will also be in charge of training some 500 health care workers per week. These people are to be taught how to deal with Ebola disease patients and help contain the epidemic at a center that the troops themselves will set up in Liberia.

Where will the money come from?

Nature tells us that, since the first Ebola cases were announced until present day, the US has spent some $175 million (€135 million) on efforts to keep the virus from spreading any further. The country's Defense Department is now looking to redirect $500 million (€386 million) from other programs.

What's more, word has it that President Obama expects Congress to provide another $88 million (€68 million), of which $30 million (€23 million) will serve to send Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff to West Africa. These folks will join the 100 Centers employees who are already in the affected regions.

It's important to note that, although US military troops respond to natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes around the world on a regular basis, this is the first time they have ever been sent in such large numbers to fight a disease outbreak.

By the looks of it, specialists expect that these troops will really make a difference when it comes to containing the disease. “When they take over an operation, you can be assured things are going to go according to a set plan,” said Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania.