Ebola Mission Could Last a Year

U.S. military medical personnel and equipment could be deployed to western Africa to fight the Ebola virus epidemic for as long as one year, the commander of U.S. Africa Command said during an Oct. 7 Pentagon press conference. “I’m sure it’ll be about a year … at this point, but that’s just a guess,” said Army Gen. David M. Rodriquez. “We’ll have to play it by ear, because it’s all about the function of the transmission rates and when the curve starts going down,” he said. Based on estimates by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the number of persons contracting the deadly virus will begin to decline once 70 percent of those who are infected are moved to a treatment facility, Rodriguez said. At that point, the duration of U.S. military involvement would hinge upon how quickly the spread of the epidemic declines and the international community can tackle the mission. Rodriguez promised that every step possible would be taken to protect personnel from exposure and contraction of the disease while they are in Africa.