CALLING the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a threat to world security, U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday broadly expanded the response by ordering thousands of troops to the region along with an aggressive effort to train health care workers and build treatment centers.

    He called on other countries to quickly supply more helpers, supplies and money.

    “If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people affected, with profound economic, political and security implications for all of us,” Obama declared after briefings at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Obama acted under pressure from regional leaders and international aid organizations who pleaded for a heightened U.S. role in confronting the deadly virus, especially in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. At least 2,400 people have died, with Liberia bearing the brunt.

    The stepped-up U.S. response includes sending 3,000 troops to the region, including medics and corpsmen for treatment and training, engineers to help build treatment facilities and logistics specialists to assist in patient transportation. Troops would not provide direct care to Ebola patients, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. A substantial number will be stationed at an intermediate base in Senegal, with others at locations in Liberia, he said.

    Obama also announced that Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, head of U.S. Army Africa, will head a military command center based in Liberia. The announcement came the same day the World Health Organization warned that the number of West African Ebola cases could begin doubling every three weeks and that the crisis could end up costing nearly US$1 billion to contain.(SD-Agencies)