European Leaders Scramble to Upgrade Response to Ebola Crisis

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Thu, 2014-10-09 09:30 — mike kraft

NEW YORK TIMES

By ANDREW HIGGINS OCT. 9, 2014

BRUSSELS — When the Ebolavirus was first identified in March as the cause of a series of mysterious deaths in the remote forests of Guinea, Europe moved quickly to battle a disease that has now infected more than 7,000 Africans and already killed around half of those. It mobilized more money and health workers than the United States, China or anyone else for West Africa.

But, proud of its long record as the world’s biggest donor of humanitarian aid, Europe has since suffered a blow to its self-image of can-do generosity. Its own efforts to contain the lethal virus have been overshadowed by President Obama’s announcement last month that he was sending 3,000 troops to West Africa to build hospitals and otherwise help in the fight against Ebola.

American airmen set up tents on Wednesday for a 25-bed modular hospital to aid Liberian health workers infected with Ebola near Monrovia, Liberia. Credit John Moore/Getty Images

... many European officials and politicians welcomed the move and wondered why what had been a European-led international effort to contain the virus had clearly not worked.

Now, with Europe grappling with the first case of Ebola transmitted on its soil after news on Monday that a nurse in Madrid had been infected, European leaders are scrambling to coordinate and ramp up their response to the lethal disease. ....

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/world/european-leaders-scramble-to-upgrade-response-to-ebola-crisis.html?_r=0

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