US to send $500 million in Ebola fight

Ebola Outbreak

President Barack Obama says the world is looking to the United States to address the deadly outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. The U.S. Department of Defense will send $500 million to West Africa in aid to fight Ebola.

Obama says the U.S. embraces that responsibility. The president is outlining new U.S. efforts to respond to the outbreak during a visit to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Obama is ordering 3,000 military personnel to West Africa to erect new facilities and train health workers. He says it’s the largest international response in the history of the CDC.

Obama says the outbreak is now an unprecedented epidemic that threatens global security and is spiraling out of control. However, he says chances the outbreak will spread into the U.S. are “extremely low.”

Story compiled with information from The Associated Press

President Obama’s statement on U.S. involvement with fight against Ebola.

CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reports.

Jeffrey Stern is a freelance journalist who recently returned from West Africa, where he chronicled the outbreak for Vanity Fair.