The Pentagon will set up a makeshift hospital in Liberia so that healthcare workers working in the region will have a place to go if they become ill while providing aid to victims of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa.
Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said Monday that the Defense Department plans to base the 25-bed field-deployable hospital at Monrovia, Liberia, at the request of the United States Agency for International Development.
“We, the department, will set it up, stockpile it and then turn it over to the government of Liberia for their use,” he said. “The intent of this piece of equipment is to provide a facility that healthcare workers in the affected region can use for themselves if they become ill or injured.”
U.S. military personnel are still working to find the best way to get the hospital equipment to Monrovia, Col. Warren said. The makeshift hospital will cost the Defense Department approximately $22 million, he said.
President Obama announced that the military would begin providing equipment and resources to fight Ebola during NBC’s “Meet The Press.” Mr. Obama described the virus as a “national security priority.”
More than 1,500 people have died after contracting the Ebola virus this year. Symptoms associated with the disease include vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding, according to the World Health Organization.
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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