The State Department said Thursday that it ordered family members of Americans working at the U.S. Embassy in Sierra Leone to leave, citing a lack of routine health care because of the Ebola outbreak.
State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said the move was taken “out of an abundance of caution” following a recommendation from the embassy and that staff would remain behind to help the Sierra Leone government, health organizations and U.S. citizens deal with the Ebola outbreak. The U.S. earlier ordered relatives of embassy employees in Liberia to leave the country.
The World Health Organization has reported 1,975 suspected or confirmed cases of Ebola, with 1069 deaths. On Thursday, the emphasized that it did not recommend any travel bans because Ebola is unlikely to spread by airplane.
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