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Obama Steps Up US Response to Ebola Outbreak

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As the Ebola epidemic spirals out of control in West Africa, US President Barack Obama announced Tuesday a major increase in US response to the virus outbreak before it affects hundreds of thousands of people.

WASHINGTON, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - As the Ebola epidemic spirals out of control in West Africa, US President Barack Obama announced Tuesday a major increase in US response to the virus outbreak before it affects hundreds of thousands of people.

"In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. It’s spiraling out of control. It is getting worse. It’s spreading faster and exponentially. Today, thousands of people in West Africa are infected. That number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands. And if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us," Obama said in his address to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

"This is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security - it’s a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. That has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the disease," the US president said.

And although Obama said the risk of the virus outbreak in the United States was low, he introduced several measures to help fight Ebola. They include establishing a military command center in Liberia at the request of the Liberian government, creating an air bridge for faster transfer of health workers and medical supplies into West Africa, and building additional treatment units.

Obama also intends to join UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon next week "to continue mobilizing the international community around this effort."

"The reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better. But right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. Right now, the world has the responsibility to act - to step up, and to do more," he said.

Earlier in the day, the White House said the United States planned to deploy 3,000 troops to West Africa and set up a command post in Monrovia, Liberia, as well as build clinics, train 500 medical workers, provide 50,000 home kits to Liberia and target the 400,000 most vulnerable households.

More than 2,450 people have died in the worst Ebola outbreak in history and the first to have occurred in West Africa. The epidemic began in southern Guinea in February and spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The World Health Organization (WHO) said the virus could affect some 20,000 people before it is brought under control.

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