The Pentagon is developing isolation pods for the C-17 Globemaster aircraft to carry up to 15 service members should they contract Ebola while supporting Operation United Assistance in Africa.

In a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Friday, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James Lariviere said development of these units is under way, with testing set for December and expected availability in January.

"We hope to procure a number of these systems to be used if service members are symptomatic," said Lariviere, the Defense Department's deputy director for political-military affairs (Africa).

More than 3,200 U.S. troops are being deployed to West Africa to build infrastructure in affected countries, provide security and train local health officials and workers on containment, treatment and response to the virus.

While U.S. troops will not treat patients directly, some risk higher exposure than others, defense officials say. For example, the Navy mans several Ebola testing labs that handle the virus, and some military medical personnel will be training health professionals that come into contact with Ebola patients.

Should a service member contract Ebola, the current plan is to stabilize the patient in a U.S. military "Role 2" hospital in either Senegal or Liberia and evacuate him or her on the specially designed air ambulance under contract with the State Department.

However, that aircraft can transport just one patient at a time and make the trip to West Africa four times a week.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said this is not good enough. "The fact that we have one airplane in the U.S. that can get people out of the country raises great concern," he said.

DoD officials said they are contracting for a number of pods to ensure that the military has the ability to run a mass evacuation if needed. They emphasized, however, that troops are unlikely to come into contact with the virus.

According to Lariviere, troops deploying to West Africa are receiving training in donning protective equipment including Tyvek coveralls, gloves, outer-gloves and standard-issue gas masks to protect them if needed. They will be assessed at least twice a day for symptoms while deployed and monitored for 21 days after returning home, according to DoD guidance.

Lariviere spelled out the procedures troops will follow while serving in Ebola endemic countries.

"We have a no-touch policy and a three-foot separation rule with local nationals," he said. "A typical soldier's day will be to get up, have their temperature taken, go out and perform whatever task they are there to do. They will only eat approved food and drink bottled water and wash their hands in chlorine solution. When they get back to their compounds, they will have their temperature taken and do a chlorine wash again."

Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said he has fielded calls from family members concerned that their service members are deploying to combat a virus in the midst of "great uncertainty regarding protocols and a lack of information from the Defense Department regarding what they will be doing every day."

Lariviere again emphasized that troops will conduct command-and-control operations, logistics, engineering support and training operations, but "will not be treating patients."

Michael Lumpkin, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, told committee members that Operation United Assistance is a military operation crucial to U.S. national security and necessary to stem a potential global calamity.

He said that in one short month, the U.S. military's presence is making an impact.

"U.S. leadership is galvanizing support on the international front. We have gone in with speed and scale" and are making a difference, he said.

During the hearing, Rabih Torbay, senior vice president for international operations with the humanitarian aid group International Medical Corps, thanked the Navy and the Naval Medical Research Center for the Ebola testing labs operating in the region.

"It has reduced the testing time from three to five days to five to seven hours," which allows his health care volunteers to test people and release them quickly, reducing their risk of contracting Ebola while they are in the clinic, Torbay said.

As of Oct. 19, there have been nearly 10,000 cases of the virus, primarily in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, with 4,877 deaths.

Nine people in the U.S. have had Ebola:

■ A Liberian man who contracted the virus overseas died in Dallas on Oct. 8 after infecting two nurses who have now been declared Ebola-free.

■ Three humanitarian aid workers and a TV cameraman contracted the disease overseas and were treated in the U.S.

■ An unnamed patient was treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and released Oct. 19.

■ A New York physician who recently returned to the U.S. from West Africa was diagnosed Thursday.

Lumpkin said that while he understands concerns raised about the potential health threat to service members posed by the deployment, the Pentagon is taking every precaution and the deployment is needed to halt the deadly virus' spread to prevent a global pandemic.

"We made a decision to fight this in West Africa," Lumpkin said.

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