President Obama said Sunday he will send U.S. military assets and personnel to help contain the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

In an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said the move is crucial because if the U.S. does not "make the effort now," the virus could mutate and pose "a serious danger" to the country.

According to the president, Defense Department personnel will help set up isolation units and provide security for public health workers.

"If we do that, then it's still going to be months before this problem is controllable in Africa, but it shouldn't reach our shores," Obama said.

The president did not provide any further detail.

The Ebola outbreak, which began in Guinea earlier this year, has infected 3,707 people as of Aug. 31 and killed 1,848, according to the World Health Organization.

Countries with known Ebola infections include Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal. Hardest hit is Liberia, with 1,698 confirmed or suspected cases and 871 deaths, according to WHO. Senegal's case involves a traveler who arrived in the country with the virus.

In a press conference on Sept. 2 after a trip to West Africa, Dr. Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the window of opportunity to contain the epidemic is "closing."

"We need action now to scale up the response," Frieden said. "There's nothing mysterious about what we need to do. The only real question is whether we'll do it fast enough."

Three Americans — all public health workers who were treating patients in affected countries — have contracted the virus. Nurse Nancy Writebol with SIM, an international aid organization based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Dr. Kent Brantly, with Samaritan's Purse, another North Carolina-based relief group, recovered after being treated with an experimental medication a Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Dr. Rick Sacra, also with SIM, is being treated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

His physician said Friday the staff is providing basic care and considering experimental treatments.

But ZMAPP, the medication given Writebol and Brantly, is not available. During his press conference, Frieden said supplies are exhausted.

ZMAPP was developed by MAPP Pharmaceuticals of San Diego and a subsidiary of Reynolds American, Kentucky Bioprocessing, under a Defense Threat Reduction Agency and National Institutes of Health contract.

The Defense Department established a small internal task force last month to consider how it would support international efforts to stop the outbreak if called on.

Fewer than a handful of personnel, mainly from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, have been in the area providing support.

USAMRIID has been rotating personnel to Liberia since April and has two workers at the Liberian Institute of Biological Research Hospital conducting diagnostic testing and training staff.

USAMRIID personnel also rotated to a hospital in Sierra Leone from mid-March until July 25, establishing a diagnostic laboratory at the Kenema Government Hospital but it no longer has any personnel in that country, according to a USAMRIID spokeswoman.

The CDC is sending 50 personnel to the affected area.

About Patricia Kime

Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.

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