US military sends aircraft, Marines to Ebola-torn Liberia; another doctor dies

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Liberia’s health minister says another doctor has died at an Ebola treatment center on the outskirts of the capital.

That brings to four the number of doctors who have died in Liberia since the outbreak. More than 90 health workers, including nurses and physician assistants, have also died.

Meanwhile, two U.S. military flights are due to arrive today at an airport outside Monrovia. U.S. forces are working to build medical centers in Liberia and may send up to 4,000 soldiers to help with the Ebola crisis.

Britain says it will provide more than 750 troops to help build treatment centers and an Ebola “training academy” in Sierra Leone. Those troops are expected to arrive next week.

Medical workers and beds for Ebola patients are sorely lacking the outbreak zone. The World Health Organization says Liberia and Sierra Leone have only enough beds for about 21 percent and 26 percent of their needs, respectively.

WHO says the outbreak has killed more than 3,800 people, the vast majority of them in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Doctors Without Borders is warning of a “massive” influx of cases in Guinea’s capital.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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