US troops
returning from West Africa are being placed under isolation at a base in Italy
as a precaution to prevent the potential spread of the Ebola virus, the
Pentagon said on Monday.
"Out of
an abundance of caution, the army directed a small number of personnel,
about a dozen, that recently returned to Italy, to be monitored in a
separate location at their home station of Vicenza," spokesman
Colonel Steven Warren told reporters.
But he
added: "None of these individuals have shown any symptoms of exposure."
Major
General Darryl Williams, who stepped down Saturday as head of the military
mission in Liberia helping to fight the Ebola outbreak, and 11 members of
his staff, were assigned to a separate location at the base in Italy and
were being monitored by a medical team, Warren said.
The decision
was taken by the US Army, he explained.
Dozens of
other soldiers due to fly back from Liberia and Senegal also will be
placed under isolation and subject to "enhanced monitoring" for a
period of 21 days, Warren said.
He insisted
the move did not amount to a "quarantine" though could
not explain how it was different.
There are
now 700 US troops in West Africa, including nearly 600 in Liberia and 100
in Senegal. The force is due to grow to at least 3,200 troops in coming weeks
and possibly as large as 3,900.
The US
military team has set up mobile labs to test for the virus, built a 25-bed
hospital for health workers and is constructing Ebola treatment units.
West Africa
is the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak that has claimed the lives of
nearly 5,000 people.
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