WASHINGTON, October 3 (RIA Novosti) – Washington may send as many as 4,000 troops to West Africa to facilitate the fight against the Ebola virus, Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby said Friday at a press briefing.
"We project that there could be nearly four thousand troops deployed in support of this mission," Kirby said.
He also stressed that the US servicemen would not provide medical aid to those infected by Ebola.
On Wednesday, Kirby claimed the United States were going to send about 1,400 soldiers to West Africa's Liberia to provide aid.
The current Ebola epidemic broke out in Guinea, and spread across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Senegal. According to the latest estimates by the World Health Organization, 3,439 of the total 7,200 cases of infection were lethal.
Earlier, a Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan, was diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Another 50 people are currently at risk from exposure to the disease and are subject to monitoring by health authorities.
