U.S. embassies in West Africa to stay open despite Ebola warning

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta on Thursday warned Americans to avoid nonessential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone because of the deadly Ebola outbreak ravaging the West African nations. But American embassies in those countries will remain open for now.

“We do not have any plans at this time to reduce embassy staff at any of these areas. We will continue to monitor the situation,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Thursday during a daily press briefing.

The Peace Corps on Wednesday removed more than 300 volunteers from the countries as the outbreak spread.

Harf also said the U.S. was working on providing assistance to help bring infected Americans back home. Two stricken Americans were listed as being in “stable but grave” condition in Liberia as of Thursday. Leone’s top doctor who treated Ebola patients died earlier from the disease.

The CDC is sending 50 disease control experts in the next 30 days to work on infection control, reporting and education about the disease.

“This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history. Far too many lives have been lost already,” CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in a statement. “It will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped.”

The World Health Organization reports that between July 24 and last Sunday, 122 new cases and 57 deaths were reported. Health organizations say there’s no vaccine or cure for the Ebola virus.

For more information, check this CDC website about Ebola symptoms.