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US Troops Begin Arriving In Africa To Battle Ebola Outbreak (Video)

Airmen assigned to the 633rd Medical Group board a C-17 Globemaster at Langley Air Force Base, Va., Sept. 26, 2014.
U.S. Air Force
Airmen assigned to the 633rd Medical Group board a C-17 Globemaster at Langley Air Force Base, Va., Sept. 26, 2014.

Armed with hand sanitizers on their belts, members of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force have started to arrive in West Africa - the epicenter of the worst Ebola outbreak in human history.

The Wall Street Journal reports sailors with the Navy's 133rd Mobile Construction Battalion bulldozed land outside Liberia's main airport on Saturday, taking the first steps in constructing tent hospitals for those inflicted with the deadly virus.

According to the Department of Defense, airmen from the 633rd Medical Group and the Air Force's Expeditionary Medical Support System (EMEDS) departed Virginia Saturday, heading to West Africa to deliver a modular medical treatment center.

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Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher Dun, chief of the expeditionary medical operations division in the office of the Air Combat Command surgeon, explained:

"From the scale of response, this is a national effort. Experts from across the country are working together to bring meaningful relief to those stricken by this terrible disease."

On Sept. 16, President Barack Obama ordered 3,000 U.S. service members to deploy to West Africa to help stem the Ebola outbreak.

As Home Post previously reported, Obama explained his reasoning for acting as quickly as possible during an interview on Meet the Press:

"If we don't make that effort now, and this spreads, not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates, it becomes more easily transmittable, and then it could be a serious danger to the United States."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates by Tuesday, there will be 8,000 cases of Ebola in West Africa, which translates to 21,000 cases "if corrections for underreporting are made."

What is the rest of the world doing to stop the Ebola outbreak? The Wall Street Journal breaks it down in this video report:

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