“The newly announced team will join 115 Chinese medical staff on the ground in Sierra Leone virtually since the beginning,” the agency’s chief Margaret Chan said, hailing the new commitment as “a huge boost, morally and operationally”.
The Obama administration believes its latest emergency action could help “turn the tide” and slow the spread of the epidemic.
The White House however still believes that there is no realistic threat to the United States from Ebola. It believes that any cases that do materialise on the US soil would be quickly isolated.
The US has so far spent $100 million on fighting the epidemic and the US Agency for International Development plans to allocate another $75 million to increase the number of Ebola treatment units and buy protective gear for health providers.
In addition, the administration has asked Congress for a further $88 million. The money is contained in a short term bill to fund the government until mid-December which could pass Congress this week.
More than 100 workers from Centers for Disease Control are already at work in west Africa, and many more staff are coordinating their work at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters.
It was unclear how many of the new US personnel would be deployed in direct contact with patients. The number however appears limited.
Obama first said last week that he was going to use a major military deployment to step up US efforts to fight the epidemic.
His remarks, and a recent YouTube message from the president offering guidance to the people of west Africa on halting infections, highlight increasing White House concern about the implications of the rapid spread of the disease.
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