U.S. To Deploy 4,000 Troops To Help With Ebola Crisis

The United States announced Friday that it may be deploying up to 4,000 troops to aid in the recent Ebola crisis currently ravaging West Africa.

Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters that the number of troops has been raised to 4,000 to combat the growing health crisis. Kirby added that the Pentagon would make an effort to be transparent about the health of the troops as they work in Africa, mainly in Liberia, one of the countries hit worst by the Ebola outbreak.

"We will be as transparent as we can about what we learn, should any of our troops fall ill," Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday.

Kirby was clear in saying that the Pentagon was not going to put a definitive number on the amount of troops being sent to West Africa, saying that the number could either be lower or higher than 4,000 depending on the continued spread of the Ebola virus.

The Rear Admiral added that the U.S. troops will be focused on helping Liberia's infrastructure to combat the disease, rather than actually treating diseased patients themselves.

"We aren't going to be in the treatment business," Kirby said. "These are logisticians, engineers, civil affairs folks, that are going to be helping establish the infrastructure so that health care workers can do the job that they need to do."

The announcement of 4,000 troops comes after the first positive Ebola patient was detected in the U.S. in Dallas, Texas. The man had recently visited Liberia before returning to the states. He and his immediate family members have been placed under quarantine for the next 20 or so days, and the patient is in a strict isolation unit at a Dallas-area hospital.