SOCIETY
Ebola crisis: US to send 3,000 troops to West Africa as Obama warns virus is `spiralling out of control`
The move came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was establishing a global response coalition to respond to the crisis.
"Here`s the hard truth. In West Africa, Ebola is now an epidemic, the likes that we have not seen before. It`s spiralling out of control, it`s getting worse," Mr Obama said after meeting with top US public health officials.
His plan calls for sending troops, including engineers and medical personnel, to build 17 treatment centres with 100 beds each, train thousands of healthcare workers and establish a military control centre for coordination of the relief effort, US officials told reporters.
The White House said the service members will not be responsible for direct patient care.
The Federal Government also announced Australia will provide a further $7 million to support the international response.
"Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, this health crisis we face is unparalleled in modern times," WHO assistant director-general Dr Bruce Aylward told reporters.
An Australian doctor in Liberia says time is running out to stop the outbreak from spiralling out of control.
A previous forecast of 20,000 Ebola cases no longer seemed high, Dr Aylward said, as weak West African healthcare systems have buckled from the strain.
"We don`t know where the numbers are going," he said, pointing out that two weeks ago when WHO said it needed the capacity to manage 20,000 cases, "that seemed like a lot."
The United States said it would send 3,000 troops to help tackle the Ebola outbreak as part of a ramped-up response including a major deployment in Liberia, the country where the epidemic is spiralling fastest out of control.
A site will also be established where military medical personnel will teach some 500 healthcare workers per week for six months or more on how to care for Ebola patients.