(MENAFN- QNA) The U.S. military could deploy up to 4,000 troops to western Africa as part of Washington’s broader response to the threat posed by the deadly Ebola virus, the Pentagon press secretary said Friday.
Rear Adm. John Kirby disclosed the number to reporters at the Pentagon, stressing that while the Defense Secretary has approved the potential deployment of up to 4,000 service members, "that doesn’t mean it’s going to get to that number."
Still, military officials had previously said that about 3,000 service members would deploy in response to the global health crisis developing in Liberia and other neighboring countries. It has killed more than 3,300 people in western Africa. Ebola was diagnosed for the first time in the United States on Wednesday, when it surfaced in Dallas, the Washington Post reported.
Military officials have been quick to stress that U.S. troops will not be directly treating infected patients. But Kirby added Friday that a series of precautions will be taken to protect U.S. troops, and they’ll be monitored regularly in case they get Ebola.
"We’re going to train them up on what Ebola looks like, feels like, does," he said. "While they’re there, they’re going to be constantly monitored on a regular, frequent basis. I was talking to a senior officer that was down in Liberia just recently. He was there for one day, and they took his temperature 10 times during that day just to make sure that throughout the day, there had been no changes."
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