MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The United States and Britain will send medical equipment and military personnel to help contain West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, as the World Health Organization warns that thousands of new infections are expected in the coming weeks.
The outbreak has spread from Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal and has killed more than 2,000 people. The U.N. health agency warns that an “exponential increase” in new cases is expected in the hardest-hit countries. WHO says patients have been filling Ebola treatment facilities in Liberia to overflowing as soon as they open, indicating that there is a large “invisible caseload.”
So far, more than 3,500 people have been infected, nearly half of them in Liberia. The outbreak has taken a particularly heavy toll on health workers.
The Pentagon says U.S. military personnel will set up a 25-bed field hospital in the Liberian capital to treat health care workers. However, once set up, the center will be turned over to the Liberian government. There is no plan to staff it with U.S. military personnel.
In addition, Britain will open a 62-bed treatment center in Sierra Leone in the coming weeks.
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APPHOTO ALIB103: Gloves and rubber boots forming part of the Ebola prevention gear for health workers at a clinic are set outside for the sun to dry them after being washed in Monrovia, Liberia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Border closures, flight bans and mass quarantines are creating a sense of siege in the West African countries affected by Ebola, officials at an emergency African Union meeting said Monday, as Senegal agreed to allow humanitarian aid pass through its closed borders. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (8 Sep 2014)
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APPHOTO ALIB102: A health worker is sprayed with disinfectant after he worked with patients that contracted the Ebola virus, at a clinic in Monrovia, Liberia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Border closures, flight bans and mass quarantines are creating a sense of siege in the West African countries affected by Ebola, officials at an emergency African Union meeting said Monday, as Senegal agreed to allow humanitarian aid pass through its closed borders. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (8 Sep 2014)
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APPHOTO ALIB101: Health workers, attend to patients that contracted the Ebola virus, at a clinic in Monrovia, Liberia, Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Border closures, flight bans and mass quarantines are creating a sense of siege in the West African countries affected by Ebola, officials at an emergency African Union meeting said Monday, as Senegal agreed to allow humanitarian aid pass through its closed borders. (AP Photo/Abbas Dulleh) (8 Sep 2014)
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