50 people in U.S. under observation for Ebola

Concerns over Ebola remain high tonight. The White House had a news conference at 5:30pm Friday in response to the outbreak in West Africa after a patient who travelled from Liberia became the first confirmed case in the U.S. Officials were addressing concerns about what’s being done in North America as well as overseas.

The United States is aggressively ramping up its response to the outbreak — before the press conference at the White House, the Pentagon announced the U.S. military is sending hundreds of more troops to West Africa.

Meanwhile in Texas, where the first North American case of Ebola was diagnosed, HAZMAT crews are working to de-contaminate the Dallas apartment where Thomas Duncan stayed before being hospitalized. His partner, his son and two nephews are in isolation in that apartment. According to the state department, a total of five U.S. citizens with confirmed cases of Ebola are being evacuated from West Africa. Among them is Ashoka Mukpo, an NBC freelance journalist covering the Ebola outbreak. Mukpo was born in British Columbia and has lived in Halifax. He’s in quarantine and will be flown back on Sunday. When asked if this outbreak is under control, health officials at the White House say they are doing what is necessary to prevent the dangerous disease from spreading.

Lisa Monaco, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism: “This outbreak began in March of this year and since that time, since the screening measures we have discussed from this podium began over the summer, there have been tens of thousands of individuals who have come to this country from the affected region and we have now seen one case. And as the doctor mentioned, it is entirely possible we will see another case. However, I would point you and others to the fact that we have seen tens of thousands of people in the time since March to the current day and we now have this isolated case in Texas, but we have a public health infrastructure and medical professionals throughout this country who are capable of dealing with cases if they present themselves, and as the doctor said, we are very confident we can stop this and other cases in its tracks.”

As for the military response in West Africa, up to four-thousand troops could be deployed in total to provide logistics, engineering, medical and other support. The military has already begun medical testing for Ebola at two new labs in Liberia and members are beginning to build two treatment centres there for victims of the deadly disease.