The Globe and Mail has recently reported that U.S. troops arrived in the Ebola epidemic zone in Africa, armed, not with guns, but with lots of hand sanitizer and personal hygiene products.
Several dozen troops have arrived just outside Liberia's capital as part of the vanguard of the Pentagon to help fight the Ebola outbreak. According to the report, the troops were sent there to evaluate the runway at the international airport and to assess its strength for an expected surge of planes that will arrive with aid over the following weeks.
BBC has already reported that President Barack Obama has already called the disease a "threat to global security," with the number of infected persons expected to rise to 20,000 by November. He said at the UN General Assembly in New York, "There is still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be."
Most of the disease seems to be concentrated in three countries for now, specifically Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
The United Nations health agency has updated with the Wall Street Journal, saying that over 3000 people have already died of confirmed, probable, or suspected Ebola cases.
The recently opened Bong County Ebola Treatment Unit, which is run by the International Medical Corps and funded by the USAID, can only house 22 patients, but will eventually increase it over time to 52. Good Morning America on Yahoo reports that care for Ebola patients requires utmost attention so as not to spread infection.
In the report, it was noted that in the short time that the facility has opened, nine bodies have already been buried and more are expected. The unit director, Dr. Pranav Shetty, said that they have nine gravediggers who can dig three graves a day. He explained, "We have to plan ahead. It's important that they stay ahead of our needs."
The perceived number of deaths caused by the outbreak is overwhelming in this part of Africa, where 70% of the infected patients die. Soon, according to the report, the team of three gravediggers will not be enough, and another will have to be pulled in to help. Most of all, the more deaths there are, the larger the land that they would need to bury the bodies in.
There is a little bit of good news, however, as EuroNews reported that Nigeria has contained the disease and the country has claimed to have been cleared of Ebola recently,
Voice of America has also reported that the Guinean student, who brought Ebola to Senegal, has returned home fully recovered, making it another Ebola-free zone.