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Obama to announce major Ebola effort

Liberian Red Cross health workers wearing protective suits carry the body of a victim of the Ebola virus, in a district of Monrovia, on September 12, 2014/AFP

Liberian Red Cross health workers wearing protective suits carry the body of a victim of the Ebola virus, in a district of Monrovia, on September 12, 2014/AFP

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 – US President Barack Obama will Tuesday seek to “turn the tide” in the Ebola epidemic by ordering 3,000 US military personnel to West Africa and launching a major health care training and hygiene program.

The White House said Obama will travel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to meet US health chiefs and make the announcement, meant to spur a global effort to fight an outbreak that has already killed 2,400 people.

The announcement comes amid increasing alarm about the worst-ever outbreak of the disease which has spread through Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Most of the new US effort will be concentrated in impoverished Liberia – the most badly affected nation.

Obama will announce that US Africa Command will set up a headquarters in Monrovia to act as a regional command and control centre to coordinate US military and international relief programs. The effort will involve an estimated 3,000 American military personnel, senior officials said. Many of the forces will be positioned at a staging base to expedite the transit of equipment and personnel.

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