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Wednesday 8 October 2014
Commander: U.S. troops' Ebola mission could last a year
.S. Air Force personnel lay out barbed wire to
mark the position of the next Ebola treatment
center for contaminated healthcare workers in
Liberia on Monday.
WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. troops may
be living in tent cities in Liberia and supporting
the fight against Ebola for "about a year" or
until the deadly outbreak appears to be under
control, the top military commander in Africa
said Tuesday.
"This is not a small effort and it's not a short
period of time," Army Gen. David Rodriguez, the
chief of U.S. Africa Command, told reporters at
the Pentagon.
About 350 U.S. troops are now in West Africa
and total deployments may reach 4,000 during
the next several weeks. The size and scope of
the mission has expanded from initial estimates
in September, when officials said it would last
about six months and require about 3,000
troops.
Pentagon officials emphasize that troops will
not provide medical care or have direct contact
with Ebola patients. The military mission is to
support civilian health care efforts through
construction of new facilities, providing logistics
support and training locals in prevention
methods.
Rodriguez said protocols for ensuring U.S.
personnel do not contract the potentially deadly
disease will include wearing gloves and masks
but not complete full-body protective suits. They
will wash their hands and feet multiple times a
day.
And military health care team members will be
taking their temperatures and asking them a
series of questions every day to identify any
troops who may show symptoms linked to
Ebola, he said.
"We will do everything in our power to address
and mitigate the potential risk to our service
members. The health and safety of the team
supporting this mission is our priority," he said.
"Let me assure you, by providing pre-
deployment training, adhering to strict medical
protocols while deployed, and carrying out
carefully planned reintegration measures based
on risk and exposure, I am confident that we
can ensure our service members' safety and the
safety of their families and the American
people."
U.S. personnel will be housed mostly in Liberia's
Ministry of Defense facilities and in "tent cities,"
and their food and water supply will be tightly
controlled, Rodriguez said.
He estimated that the mission's initial task,
building 17 Ebola treatment units, each with 100
beds, will be completed by November. But many
troops will remain to continue providing
engineering and logistical support to the
Liberians.
"We're going to stay as long as we're needed. ...
It will be about a year, but that is just a guess,"
Rodriguez said.
He suggested that troops will stay until the
Liberian health system is capable of finding
hospital treatment beds for 70 percent of the
infected population. Infectious disease experts
say that's a critical threshold for containing the
outbreak.
While troops will not have direct contact with
Ebola patients for now, that could change as the
mission evolves. "They'll continually relook that
decision," Rodriguez said, referring to senior
U.S. officials.
If any service members contract the virus, they
will be transported on an aircraft outfitted with
a quarantine facility and returned to the U.S. for
treatment at a top hospital, Rodriguez said. The
military operation's headquarters is not
stocking the experimental drug used to treat
Ebola victims, known as "ZMapp."
The vast majority of troops deploying to Liberia
will be soldiers from Fort Campbell, Kentucky,
and Fort Hood, Texas. In addition, at least 700
combat engineers from across the Army will be
tapped for the mission. A small number of
troops have deployed to an airfield in nearby
Senegal and are standing by to assist if a large-
scale evacuation is required.
More than 3,400 people have died in West Africa
form the Ebola virus and an estimated 7,470
have been diagnosed as having the infection,
although the numbers likely are higher since
many victims don't make it to treatment
centers.
The Defense Department effort could cost up to
$1 billion, with the bulk of those funds coming
from its wartime contingency budget. Congress,
however, has released only $50 million in funds
for Operation United Assistance, pending a
complete report of operational plans and
details on the use of funds.
DoD and the National Institutes of Health have
been instrumental in developing potential
vaccines and treatments against the deadly
disease, which has a mortality rate of more than
60 percent.
This month, human safety testing will begin on a
potential vaccine at Walter Reed Army Institute
of Research, Silver Spring, Md., and the National
Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
began safety testing last month on a separate
potential immunization.
Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian hospitalized
at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas
began receiving an experimental treatment,
brincidofovir, an anti-viral drug developed by
the Durham, North Carolina, based company
Chimerix, that was developed to combat other
potent viruses, including adenovirus and
smallpox.
Chimerix has received funding from NIAID.
The FDA on Monday granted an emergency use
application for an experimental treatment,
brincidofovir, produced by North Carolina-
based Chimerix, for use in patients with Ebola.
The drug is being given reportedly to Thomas
Eric Duncan, the Liberian man now fighting
Ebola at a Dallas medical center.
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