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Ebola outbreak: UK sending 750 troops to Sierra Leone | Ebola outbreak: UK sending 750 troops to Sierra Leone |
(35 minutes later) | |
The UK is sending 750 military personnel to Sierra Leone to help deal with the deadly Ebola outbreak, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed. | |
He said the UK would also send a medical ship, the RFA Argus, and three Merlin helicopters. | |
Confirming the measures, Mr Hammond said: "We all have to do more if we are going to prevent what is currently a crisis from becoming a catastrophe." | |
More than 3,400 people have died in the outbreak, mostly in West Africa. | |
In Sierra Leone the death toll is at least 678. Save the Children has reported the rate of infection is rapidly increasing there, with five new cases every hour. | |
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far infected more than 7,200 people. | There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far infected more than 7,200 people. |
It comes as: | |
Mr Hammond, speaking at a press conference in Washington with US Secretary of State John Kerry, said UK military and civilian teams were already in Sierra Leone, working on constructed a medical facility with 700 Ebola treatment beds. | |
He said that at a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee in London - which he joined via video link from the British embassy in Washington - the decision was made to deploy the RFA Argus to Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, along with three Merlin helicopters. | |
Mr Hammond said trials of a new primary care triage system for those with early stage symptoms of Ebola was also taking place. | |
He said: "This disease is an unprecedented threat that knows no borders. We have to get ahead of this disease. If we get ahead of it and rise to the challenge, we can contain it and beat it." | |
He said the UK had committed more than $200m to the programme in Sierra Leone. | |
And he urged other countries to commit not only money but more resources, including trained medical personnel, to efforts to combat the virus. | |
The usual role of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Argus is to serve as a casualty receiving ship and the vessel is equipped 100-bed medical complex. The helicopters will be based off the coast and will help to move UK forces. | |
Forty British military engineers have already travelled to the country to make sure the facilities can be set up, and they will be joined by logisticians and medics. | |
BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said 100 troops had been due to travel to the country next week but they will now be joined by hundreds more. | BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said 100 troops had been due to travel to the country next week but they will now be joined by hundreds more. |
"It shows Britain is clearly worried about this and is ramping up its efforts in the same way the US has done," said our correspondent. | "It shows Britain is clearly worried about this and is ramping up its efforts in the same way the US has done," said our correspondent. |
US troops | |
Three hundred American troops have been deployed to neighbouring Liberia, also badly affected by the Ebola outbreak, to set up field hospitals. | |
About 3,000 more US soldiers are due to arrive there in the coming days to help with logistical support and training for health workers. | |
In the US, the Department of Homeland Security said passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea would have their temperatures taken and have to answer questions, according to Reuters news agency. | |
But Public Health England said there were still no plans to follow suit. | |
In the case of the Spanish nurse, a doctor in Madrid has said Teresa Romero remembers touching her face with her gloves after treating a dying priest. | |
A World Health Organization adviser earlier warned that more cases could be expected among medical staff, even in developed countries. | A World Health Organization adviser earlier warned that more cases could be expected among medical staff, even in developed countries. |