Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says that in an interconnected world, outbreaks of deadly viruses like Ebola have the potential to affect every nation.
Obama is speaking to representatives of more than 40 countries attending a global health summit at the White House.
The president says that while the U.S. is taking "an opportunity to lead" the response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, it must also be a global priority. Obama announced last week that the U.S. was dispatching 3,000 military personnel to the region to help contain the outbreak.
More than 6,200 people have been sickened by Ebola, and about half of those have died.
The president says it is crucial to make sure the world is not "caught flat-footed" if there are future outbreaks of deadly viruses.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
