The US Department of Defense has announced it is preparing a 30-person rapid-response team that will provide quick medical support to civilian healthcare workers in the US, as the Ebola hysteria sweeps the country.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered US "Northern Command Commander Gen. Chuck Jacoby to prepare and train a 30-person expeditionary medical support team that could, if required, provide short-notice assistance to civilian medical professionals in the United States," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement issued on Sunday, Press TV reports.
According to Kirby, the team is in response to a request by the Department of Health and Human Services.
He added that the team, which will be ready to "respond quickly, effectively, and safely" in the event of more Ebola cases in the country, will include 20 critical care nurses, five doctors who specialize in infectious disease, and five specialists in infectious disease protocol training.
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has said that the Ebola outbreak has so far left about 4,500 dead.
One of the victims was American Thomas Eric Duncan who died after traveling from Liberia. Two nurses who treated Duncan contracted the virus and now are receiving treatment.
House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday called on President Barack Obama to "absolutely consider” travel ban on passengers coming to the United States from West African countries.
However, Obama said the travel ban would not be effective against the spread of the deadly disease.
"I don't have a philosophical objection necessarily to a travel ban if that is the thing that is going to keep Americans safe," Obama said on Thursday, a day after he met with members of his Ebola response team.
A new poll shows nearly two-thirds of Americans are worried about the spread of the Ebola epidemic across the US.
According to the results published on Tuesday, 65 percent of the respondents voiced concerns over the epidemic.