US President Barack Obama would travel to Atlanta next week to talk with leading medical experts on the deadly Ebola virus that has erupted from Africa, a presidential spokesperson has said.
“The President will travel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to receive a briefing on the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa, discuss the US response to that outbreak, and thank the scientists, doctors and healthcare workers who are helping those affected by the disease at home and around the world,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters yesterday.
Obama will also receive an update on the respiratory illness that’s been reported in several states across the Midwest, Earnest said.
The Pentagon had yesterday said that it will transport a 25-bed hospital to Liberia in western Africa to help in the fight against the deadly Ebola virus there.
Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the Department of Defence has about $30-million programme funding approved for its Ebola response, which includes delivery of the hospital and pay for diagnostic equipment, supplies and training.
“We’ve also requested reprogramming for $500 million in this fiscal year’s Overseas Contingency [Operations] fund for humanitarian assistance that would include West Africa,” Kirby told reporters at his daily news conference.
“The US government will continue to play a role here in trying to address this crisis. As a part of that role, the Department of Defence has capabilities that might prove helpful. And we’re a part of that discussion right now,” Kirby said.