WASHINGTON, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - The US is ready to handle Ebola crisis both at home and abroad, Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for homeland security, said at a press briefing.
"The United States is prepared to deal with this crisis, both at home and in the region," Monaco stated at the press briefing Friday, noting that the US President Barack Obama is certain Ebola outbreak will be stopped. "Every Ebola outbreak in the past 40 years has been stopped. We know how to do this and we will do it again," she added.
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. There is no officially approved cure for the disease, but several nations are working on a vaccine.
The first case of Ebola virus infection inside the United States was confirmed on Sunday. The patient was identified as a Liberian citizen Thomas Eric Duncan. Another 50 people are currently at risk from exposure to the disease and are subject to monitoring by health authorities.
Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a press briefing on Friday Washington may send as many as 4,000 troops to West Africa to facilitate the fight against the Ebola virus.
