US orders diplomat family members out of Sierra Leone due to Ebola

World Today

A healthcare worker wears protective gear against the Ebola virus before he enters the Ebola isolation ward at Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone on In this photo taken on Aug. 12, 2014. AP Photo/ Michael Duff

The U.S. State Department said Thursday that eligible family members of American diplomats were to leave Sierra Leone. It ordered the move after the U.S. Department’s Medical Office announced that “there is a lack of options for routine health care services at major medical facilities due to the Ebola outbreak.”

U.S. President Barack Obama also spoke by phone with the presidents of both Sierra Leone and Liberia where hundreds have died from the lethal virus. According to a White House readout of the phone calls, Obama told Presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone that the U.S. stands ready to offer assistance to contain the outbreak.

There is a U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team in Monrovia, Liberia and medical personnel from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are on the ground. A physician for the Centers for Disease Control said on Thursday that the Ebola outbreak in Liberia is “uncontrolled, but it is controllable.” Kevin De Cock described the outbreak in West Africa as one of “historical importance,” due to the large numbers of people affected.

Elsewhere, an American drug developer says he is ready to start an initial round of human testing for a possible Ebola vaccine. NewLink Genetics Chief Financial Officer Gordon Link said Thursday he’s unsure of when such testing will begin. It would involve up to 100 healthy volunteers.

“We’re getting a lot of assistance from a number of sources to accelerate this, so exactly how long it’s going to take is a little uncertain because people are greasing the paths as much as they can,” Link said.

Article compiled with reporting by The Associated Press