US to send 3,000 troops to help with Ebola crisis, but will it be enough?

Ebola Outbreak

The United States is sending help in response to urgent appeals from Liberia about its Ebola crisis. Three thousand U.S. troops will be sent to Liberia, as well as Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The U.S. Ebola mission will cost about $763 million over the next six months. American troops will build new clinics, help train local health care workers, and coordinate supplies and logistics.

More than 2,400 people have died since the Ebola outbreak began six months ago. Health care workers in Liberia have been unable to control the spread of the virus, as clinics are filled beyond capacity and resources are scarce. The troops will work with the governments of Nigeria and Senegal, but all governments in the region realize that Ebola is not only a health problem, but a security issue for all of west Africa.

CCTV’s Katerina Vittozzi reports from Ghana, the head of the Economic Community of West Africa States.

Follow Katerina Vittozzi on Twitter @kvittozzi

MORE EBOLA COVERAGE ON CCTV AMERICA.

There is no known cure for Ebola, but survival chances improve if the disease is treated early. The World Health Organization predicts that thousands more people will become infected in the coming weeks.

The United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF has been on the front lines in the fight against Ebola. Sheldon Yett, the head of UNICEF’s program in Liberia, joined CCTV America for insight on this growing problem.

Find out more about UNICEF’s efforts against Ebola here.