Washington, Sep 16 (IANS/EFE) US President Barrack Obama will announce Tuesday an extension of his government's plan against the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa by deploying 3,000 troops and allocating fresh funds that could reach $600 million.
Obama considers the epidemic to be a national security priority, White House sources said.
He will announce the new measures Tuesday in Atlanta during his visit to the headquarters of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency coordinating the response to the Ebola outbreak, said a White House official.
The Pentagon's US Africa Command will coordinate the operations along with a Joint Forces Command centre in Monrovia, Liberia, as the new regional base will facilitate speedy transport of health personnel and teams.
The Pentagon seeks to redirect $500 million for this mission as a part of its Overseas Contingency Operations Funding, which will add to the $88 million that awaits Congress's approval and the $175 million that has already been allocated for the cause.
Several experts and health organisations have called for a greater participation of the US in terms of troops and leadership in response to the epidemic.
Under the new plan, the Pentagon will send a team of engineers to Liberia to build 17 treatment centres, each with a 100-bed capacity, as well as medical staff to train 500 health professionals a week.
There are already 100 experts from the Centres for Disease Control, which is one of the biggest deployments of professionals by the government agency in its history.
The mission also includes sending basic emergency kits which include disinfectants to prevent transmission of the virus to other family members, for 400,000 homes in Liberia.
Last week, the Pentagon announced its decision to send a 25-bed mobile hospital to Liberia to treat health professionals who contract the disease. However, it will take about a month for this to become operational.
At the UN General Assembly meet in New York next week, Obama will urge the international community to provide more funds, materials and health professionals to check the spread of the epidemic.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Thursday to address this crisis.
There have been 4,784 cases of Ebola infections registered while over 2,400 people have died from it, according to the latest data from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
So far, two US citizens have been successfully treated for the disease while two others are being treated in the country after being evacuated from West Africa. However, the White House denies the risk of any outbreak in the US.
WHO reported last week that between 500 and 600 foreign professionals were required in the countries affected by the disease, in addition to a thousand local workers and at least ten Ebola treatment centres.
--IANS/EFE
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