More US troops arriving in West Africa for Ebola fight

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WASHINGTON - More U.S. troops are arriving in West Africa to help fight anEbola outbreak that has claimed more than 4,500 lives, but the rainy seasonis causing a delay, the Pentagon announced Monday.
Slightly more than 500 service members are now in Liberia to build treatmentcenters and provide logistical support. Another 115 are in Dakar, Senegal,at an "air bridge" transportation hub to support the mission, Pentagonspokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters.
About 80 more troops will arrive by Wednesday, he said, and thousands ofsoldiers are scheduled to deploy to the country in the coming weeks.Officials say military personnel will not be assigned to patient treatment,and have repeatedly said there is little risk of infection.
But because of heavy rains, completion of a 25-bed field hospital thatofficials earlier said would be ready to open in mid-October has beendelayed until Nov. 5, Warren said.
The first of 17 planned military-built Ebola treatment units is expected toopen in Liberia later this month. Two more should open in early November,Warren said.
Health officials say separating sick people from those not yet infected iskey to controlling the disease. To help determine who needs to be isolated,Defense Department mobile testing labs operating in Liberia have diagnosedblood samples from more than 1,300 patients, he said.
The Pentagon is also preparing for the possibility of domestic Ebolaemergencies, announcing the formation of a 30-person team that could operateinside the United States to provide military support to civilianauthorities.
"We do the same thing when there are forest fires, and obviously there arefiremen who are capable of fighting forest fires," Warren said. "Samesituation here - this is planning, this is creating a team who if requested. can support a specific location."
The team of five infectious disease doctors, 20 critical care nurses andfive infectious disease protocol trainers will soon begin a seven-daytraining course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for specific Ebola controlmeasures taught by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of InfectiousDiseases. After that, they'll remain on standby for deployment within theUnited States for 30 days.
The team would deploy at the direction of Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel,but Warren said the criteria for dispatching the team and command andcontrol could vary based on circumstances.
"This is defense support to civil authorities, so depending on thesituation, [the chain of command] would be worked out," he said.