Ebola Deaths Toll In Liberia Sparks Obama Concern

President Obama spoke by phone today with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and separately with President Ernest Bai Koroma regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In his conversations with both leaders, the President underscored the commitment of the United States to work with Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other international partners to contain the outbreak and expressed his condolences for the lives lost.

The leaders discussed ongoing mitigation measures, including those directed through the Monrovia-based U.S. Disaster Assistance Response Team and deployed personnel in both Liberia and Sierra Leone from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The President further noted that, while their participation was missed, he appreciated President Sirleaf and President Koroma's decisions to forgo last week's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. to tend to the outbreak.

Health experts have warned that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa may last another six months. At least 1,145 people have died across Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, and that may "vastly underestimate the magnitude of the outbreak," the World Health Organization says.

New figures released on Friday showed that Liberia now has recorded more deaths — 413 — than any of the other affected countries. On Saturday, a newly expanded, 34-bed Ebola treatment center was opened at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Medical Center in Monrovia, health officials said.